Investment in expanding Con Dao Airport may follow the PPP method

The investment in expanding Con Dao Airport (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) will likely be carried out under the PPP method, instead of using the state budget as previously proposed by the Ministry of Transport.

The investment in expanding Con Dao Airport (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) will likely be carried out under the PPP method, instead of using the state budget as previously proposed by the Ministry of Transport.

The existing runway length of Con Dao airport is sufficient to receive and effectively exploit most types of code C aircraft.

PPP Investment Consensus

There has been an important change in the investment plan to expand Con Dao Airport according to Official Dispatch No. 13930/BGTVT-KHĐT just issued by the Ministry of Transport in the middle of this week.

Accordingly, based on the development needs and proposals of the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, the Ministry of Transport agreed to deploy investment to expand Con Dao Airport under the PPP method with the investment scope including all works of the Airport (airport area works, works to ensure flight operations, essential works of civil aviation area, aviation service works).

Regarding the plan to exploit large, wide-body aircraft to access European and American markets as proposed by the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, the Ministry of Transport believes that it is necessary to review and study the adjustment of runway sizes.

The Ministry of Transport will closely coordinate with the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to study and organize the planning of Con Dao Airport for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, to review and adjust accordingly. On that basis, the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province will develop a Project on Socialization of Investment and Exploitation of Con Dao Airport to report to the Prime Minister for permission to implement.

“The Ministry of Transport will carry out procedures to stop the investment policy of the Project to renovate and upgrade the runway and taxiway at Con Dao Airport worth VND 1,680 billion using medium-term public investment capital for 2021 - 2025 according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment,” said Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Transport.

In a previous document sent to the Government leaders, the Ministry of Transport said that the existing runway length (1,830 m) of Con Dao Airport is enough to receive and effectively exploit most types of code C aircraft operated by Vietnamese airlines (such as A320neo/ceo, B737-7/8, E190/E195, except for the A321 aircraft line that must reduce commercial load).

To increase the operating capacity at Con Dao Airport, it is only necessary to invest in expanding and improving the load capacity of the runway, taxiway and safety facilities to soon put medium-range aircraft into operation. The leaders of the Ministry of Transport believe that the above investment and operation plan ensures effective operation as well as effective infrastructure investment with reasonable costs, limiting impacts on the marine environment.

Along with that, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Ministry of Transport continue to organize and implement the Investment Project to renovate and upgrade the runway and taxiway at Con Dao Airport using public investment capital, to overcome the deterioration of the structure, increase load capacity, and soon put into operation code C aircraft, serving the travel needs of the people.

Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation will invest in projects to ensure flight operations with the enterprise's own capital; Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial People's Committee will mobilize social capital to invest in the remaining projects (essential projects in civil aviation areas, aviation service projects) under the PPP method.

Large, overall investment

Contrary to the viewpoint of the state management agency on transportation, the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province always wants to upgrade the overall Con Dao Airport to achieve greater exploitation capacity, even becoming an international airport.

Con Dao Airport is planned as a domestic airport, shared by civil and military, planned at level 4C. The operating capacity is 2 million passengers/year and 4,400 tons of cargo/year, can handle code C aircraft or equivalent, has 8 aircraft parking positions.

In Official Dispatch No. 18960/UBND-VP sent to the Ministry of Transport dated December 20, 2024, the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province proposed to study the planning and investment plan to upgrade and expand Con Dao Airport to ensure it meets international airport standards under the PPP method; to make overall investment in the entire project, including airport facilities, facilities to ensure flight operations, essential facilities for civil aviation, and aviation service facilities, to be able to receive large, wide-body aircraft such as A320, A321, Airbus A350, Boeing 787.

“After being upgraded, Con Dao Airport can receive international flights from Northeast Asia (Japan, Korea, etc.) and some European and American countries, which are high-class passengers, and at the same time, it will be a place to receive military aircraft to ensure national defense, security and sovereignty over the islands. This will be the foundation for the development of tourism and socio-economic development of Con Dao in the future,” said Mr. Le Ngoc Khanh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

It is known that there is currently a large domestic private corporation committed to accompany and coordinate with departments, branches and sectors of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to research and propose to the Provincial People's Committee to report to competent authorities to ensure compliance with planning and compliance with standards, regulations and technical requirements.

Previously, in Submission No. 169-TTr/TU dated October 15, 2024, the Standing Committee of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Party Committee proposed that the Politburo consider and approve the pilot implementation of a number of mechanisms and policies to develop Con Dao district. The important highlight of this submission is that the Standing Committee of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Party Committee proposed mechanisms and policies to attract strategic investors to implement the Con Dao Airport Upgrade and Expansion Investment Project under the PPP method, including investment incentives and designation of strategic investors to implement the project.

According to current regulations, the Minister of Transport is the one who decides to allow the preparation of pre-feasibility study reports for PPP projects under the management scope as prescribed by the PPP Law. “Therefore, we hope that the Ministry of Transport will soon complete and submit for approval the investment plan to upgrade and expand Con Dao Airport under PPP and soon send comments to the Ministry of Planning and Investment on piloting a number of mechanisms and policies for the development of Con Dao district so that Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has a basis for deployment and implementation,” Official Dispatch No. 18960/UBND-VP stated.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dau-tu-mo-rong-cang-hang-khong-con-dao-co-the-theo-phuong-thuc-ppp-d235802.html