Qualified to speed up the progress of runway number 3 of Long Thanh airport

Regarding the construction time of Long Thanh airport's runway 3, the proposal is for a maximum of 24 months, but the Minister of Transport said that it is completely possible to shorten the progress because machinery, equipment, and human resources are available.

The sooner runway 3 is completed, the more effective it will be.

On the morning of November 13, the National Assembly discussed in groups the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis and adjusted the investment policy for the Long Thanh International Airport project.

Giving comments on the content of adjusting the investment policy of Long Thanh International Airport project, delegate Nguyen Manh Hung, Standing Member of the Economic Committee, agreed to invest in adding runway number 3.

Delegate Nguyen Manh Hung contributed comments to the discussion in the group.

According to delegate Hung, this adjustment will bring many advantages and efficiency because currently the land, human resources, and material resources are available and the location of runway number 3 is only a short distance from runway number 1.

Furthermore, according to Mr. Hung, the Government's report shows that the construction cost of runway number 3 is only about 3 trillion VND and this is the source that the investor arranged from the bidding savings as well as the reserve source for component project 3 of phase 1.

However, delegate Hung wondered if adding a runway would overload the service capacity of Terminal T1, which was designed for only one runway, and would it be complicated? Would connecting runway 3 to other service systems cause any problems?

In addition, according to the proposal, the construction time for runway 3 is expected to be 24 months, including 12 months of preparation and 12 months of implementation. However, in reality, if the infrastructure, materials, human resources, and physical resources are available, will the preparation time for implementation be shortened further?

"Each item that is accelerated and put into use sooner will help save costs and be more effective," said Mr. Hung.

Machines and human resources are available so we can speed up the process.

Clarifying the delegates' opinions, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) had carefully calculated.

"Opening an additional runway does not mean increasing capacity, it is still 25 million passengers/year. However, the survey and construction process shows that if runway number 3 is not built immediately but is done later, it will affect the airport's operations because it is very dusty. Meanwhile, we currently have enough time and funds to do it," said Minister Nguyen Van Thang.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang spoke at the meeting.

Furthermore, the report stated that if there is only one runway, in case of repair or upgrade, Tan Son Nhat International Airport will have to shoulder the burden, leading to overload. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport believes that the proposal to deploy runway number 3 will ensure that the process will not be affected in the future.

During operation, one runway can be stopped to maintain the other without causing any impact.

During the research, ACV also carefully calculated and showed that when building runway 3 right away, the service supply system, the connection system between taxiways, and connecting traffic routes are all synchronized and not affected.

Regarding construction time, the Minister said the reason the Long Thanh International Airport project is a bit behind schedule is due to many reasons.

In fact, after the National Assembly passed a resolution to implement the project in 2015, the Covid-19 pandemic occurred and implementation encountered many difficulties in site clearance.

"Because there is no land, there is no way to implement it and it will not be until 2023 that a contractor can be selected," said the Minister of Transport.

Regarding the construction time of runway number 3, according to the proposal, it is a maximum of 24 months, but Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that it is completely possible to shorten it if efforts are made to speed up the implementation progress because machinery and equipment are now available.

The Minister of Transport expects that runway number 3 can be inaugurated in no more than 1.5 years, and this timeline is similar to the inauguration time of the entire phase 1 project of Long Thanh International Airport.

On the afternoon of November 12, presenting a summary of the review of this content, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that the Economic Committee agreed to immediately build runway number 3 of Long Thanh airport.

The Economic Committee acknowledged that the adjustment of the investment phase of the construction of runway No. 3 of the project from phase 3 to phase 1, to put it into operation synchronously with phase 1, ensures compliance with the actual situation, meets the continuous operation needs of Long Thanh International Airport when a runway has problems, and improves the efficiency of project investment.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/bo-truong-gtvt-du-dieu-kien-day-nhanh-tien-do-duong-cat-ha-canh-so-3-san-bay-long-thanh-192241113144723802.htm