Central Highlands province eyes $169-mln airport to boost tourism

By Anh Duy September 14, 2022 | 11:23 pm PT

Tourists on a street that runs along pine forests in Mang Den Town in Kon Tum Province. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Hoa

The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum wants a VND4-trillion ($169.5-million) plan to build Mang Den airport to be included in the national aviation development scheme.

The airport will cover 350 hectares in Mang Den Town, around 60 kilometers from downtown Kon Tum, provincial authorities said in a proposal submitted to the Ministry of Transport.

The airport will be built under the public-private partnership mode with a designed capacity of three to five million passengers a year to boost economic and tourism development in Kon Tum. The province shares borders with Laos and Cambodia and hosts ethnic Bahnar and Jarai communities.

At an altitude of 1,200 meters, Mang Den Town is dubbed the "second Da Lat" for its vast valleys and pine forests.

Several provinces have recently sought approval to build airports to foster economic growth, including the northern provinces of Son La, Tuyen Quang and Ninh Binh, the central province of Ha Tinh and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The country currently has 22 civilian airports, including 10 international air hubs, with Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City and Noi Bai in Hanoi being the two biggest.