Upgrading Vietnam Airlines in the international arena
The Long Thanh International Airport construction project with a total investment of VND336,630 billion (about USD16 billion) is divided into 3 implementation phases. When completed, it will be a Vietnamese and international airport transit port with a capacity of 100 million passengers/year and 5 million tons of cargo/year.
Prime Minister and delegates pressed the button to start the project
Currently, the project is implementing phase 1 with a total investment of about 110,000 billion VND divided into 4 component projects with the construction items of 1 runway; 1 passenger terminal and synchronous auxiliary items with a capacity of 25 million passengers/year; 1.2 million tons of cargo/year.
According to the Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), the two packages worth more than VND42,000 billion that started construction on the afternoon of August 31 are both part of component project 3 and are important items of the project. For package 5.10, the passenger terminal project is worth up to VND35,000 billion, with the contractor proposing a construction period of 39 months. ACV assessed that this package is of great value and has the most complex technical nature at present. The passenger terminal takes the image of a lotus flower as the main idea and is used throughout the design process, applied to the roof, perspective from the main view of the terminal, interior of the check-in area, arranged in a concentrated form including the central area and 3 wings...
Perspective of passenger terminal T3 - Tan Son Nhat International Airport
Package No. 4.6 is worth more than VND 7,308 billion, with a construction period of 700 days, and is the second largest package of the project in phase 1. This package includes airport runway items with a runway length of 4,000 m and a width of 45 m; a system of 2 parallel taxiways, 6 quick exit taxiways, connecting taxiways, with an area of about 69.3 hectares; 4 aircraft parking lots (aircraft parking lot in front of the cargo terminal, aircraft parking lot in front of the express delivery terminal, aircraft maintenance parking lot, isolation parking lot) and parking lots for ground service vehicles with an area of about 12.4 hectares...
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said he was very pleased to attend and witness the groundbreaking ceremony of two important projects of Long Thanh airport phase 1 and passenger terminal T3 (Tan Son Nhat airport). The Prime Minister affirmed that developing infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure, is one of the three strategic breakthroughs that the Party and State have implemented for many terms. Practice has proven that transport in general and airports and ports in particular bring about clear economic, social, security and defense effects. Wherever transport develops, new development space is opened up. Many urban areas, industrial parks, services and tourism areas have been formed, and land funds have been effectively exploited.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh encourages workers constructing Long Thanh International Airport
"In recent years, our country's aviation infrastructure has been upgraded, expanded, and newly built with many investment resources from the State and socialization, but it has not kept up with the growth and development of the country and the world. Many airports have become overloaded both in the sky and on the ground, especially Tan Son Nhat airport," the Prime Minister assessed and expected that Long Thanh airport will make Vietnam an attractive destination on the international aviation map. "A large-scale airport like Long Thanh, in addition to promoting the development of the aviation industry, also brings benefits to the overall development of the country," the Prime Minister affirmed.
The Prime Minister also noted that the commencement of these two projects is only the first step, and the tasks ahead are still very heavy. Therefore, in order to complete the project, ensure safety, quality and meet the schedule, the Prime Minister requested the central ministries, branches, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, and Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee to perform well the state management function, strengthen inspection and supervision, promptly support and remove difficulties in the project implementation process, and promote the project's progress.
"In summary, there are 6 things that must be done well. These are: striving to exceed the schedule; improving the quality of the project; ensuring technical safety, aesthetics, and environmental sanitation; absolutely not allowing capital increases, not dividing the bid packages, making the project fragmented, difficult to manage, and reducing efficiency; resolutely fighting corruption, negativity, and group interests in project implementation at all stages; ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and harmonizing the interests between the people and the state," the Prime Minister emphasized.
The project "Construction of Passenger Terminal T3 - Tan Son Nhat International Airport" includes 3 main items: passenger terminal, high-rise parking lot combined with non-aviation services and overpass system in front of the terminal with a total investment of 10,990 billion VND.
The passenger terminal construction package started yesterday, August 31, and is expected to take 20 months to complete. It will have 1 basement and 4 upper floors, with a total floor area of 112,500 m2 .
Inspired by the traditional Ao Dai, the station’s architecture is designed to be soft and youthful, like the vitality of a dynamic city that is striving to develop. The station has a linear shape similar to the existing station, designed into 2 separate departure and arrival levels.
The driving force for breakthrough in the entire Southeast region
Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), said that the investment project to build Long Thanh International Airport with a capacity of 100 million passengers, 5 million tons of cargo/year and the expansion project of Tan Son Nhat International Airport with a completed port planning with a capacity of 50 million passengers/year are two important national projects, special-grade works. The two projects are of great significance to the development of the aviation industry in particular, the socio-economic development of the key economic region in the South and Vietnam in general. In particular, the T3 passenger terminal after completion will have a capacity of 20 million passengers/year, serving 7,000 passengers/peak hour, operating all types of Code C and Code E aircraft, contributing to solving the congestion situation at Tan Son Nhat airport. The most advanced technologies and modern equipment will be applied to build Long Thanh airport, which can be compared with large airports of the same scale in the world. The two airports form a powerful and modern port cluster, which will become one of the major aviation centers in the region in the future, promoting the competitiveness of Vietnam's aviation industry on the path of international integration, contributing to the successful implementation of the strategic breakthrough in transport infrastructure according to the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.
Perspective of Long Thanh airport passenger terminal
"As an investor, we are really pressured and excited when the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the National Assembly, and leaders at all levels have recently directly paid attention to, urged, and reminded us about improving the working and living conditions of the construction site staff; leaders of the Ministry of Transport and the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises regularly hold direct meetings at the construction site. Two large construction sites are gradually emerging with large-scale projects, complex technical characteristics, and long design and construction times being implemented simultaneously. ACV is committed to mobilizing all resources, improving project management capacity, directing, closely controlling, and closely coordinating with contractors to complete the projects on schedule and with the highest quality according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization," Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh affirmed.
Economist Huynh Thanh Dien assessed: Airports are extremely important infrastructure for a developing city like Ho Chi Minh City as well as the whole country. However, the only airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Tan Son Nhat, is increasingly overloaded, causing many consequences for human transportation, goods circulation, and affecting the image of the city in attracting tourists. With its strategic location, Ho Chi Minh City needs a larger airport to not only meet the development needs of the city but also serve the Southeast region and the Western provinces. Terminal T3 with the goal of expanding Tan Son Nhat airport after completion will create a very good investment foundation for the city, creating favorable conditions for international trade. In addition, Tan Son Nhat Airport is also one of the symbols, a historical construction, a destination chosen by many tourists and locals when coming to Ho Chi Minh City, so while it is still maintained, Tan Son Nhat still needs to be invested in and upgraded according to the planning and quality of an international gateway airport.
However, according to Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien, Tan Son Nhat alone, even if expanded, certainly cannot "take on" the development speed of Ho Chi Minh City. Long Thanh Port will "share the burden" with Tan Son Nhat in the short term, relieving congestion both in the sky and on the ground; in the long term, it will improve the capacity to receive passengers and transport goods for the entire Southeast region. At the same time, when Long Thanh airport opens, the connecting infrastructure must be built synchronously, which will reshape the infrastructure for the key economic region in the south, creating a boost for a more synchronous and systematic traffic infrastructure. The Tan Son Nhat - Long Thanh airport cluster is expected to be completed in the 2025 - 2026 period when the difficulties of the world economy are forecast to have receded, becoming an important infrastructure to help Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces take the lead in development.
"In the current difficult economic context, the groundbreaking of these two "super" projects is even more meaningful. Airport construction will promote many supporting sectors, especially economic sectors in which domestic enterprises participate a lot such as: transportation, supplies, construction materials, construction procedure consulting services, legal services, creating jobs for workers, attracting hundreds of subcontractors to participate... Many sectors will be stimulated and promoted. At the same time, this is an important driving force to accelerate public investment disbursement, creating investment opportunities so that credit flows after the expansion of monetary policy will have a place to flow in, creating a strong driving force to restore the country's economy", Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien emphasized.
Opportunity to shake up construction companies
According to VietCap Securities Company's estimate, the maximum total net profit is VND525 billion for a contractor participating in package 5.10 - construction of the passenger terminal of Long Thanh International Airport, in case the contractor completes 50% of the total backlog of the package. However, because the estimated construction time for Long Thanh Airport phase 1 is 39 months (equivalent to the estimated completion time at the end of 2026 or mid-2027, depending on the actual construction start date), the above estimated total profit will be recorded in a period of 3 - 3.5 years.
In addition, Vietcap estimates that the Long Thanh airport project phase 1 will require about 18 million tons of construction stone, equivalent to 56% of the licensed annual mining capacity of Dong Nai province. Therefore, VNDirect believes that the Long Thanh airport project will be a big boost for construction and construction stone enterprises in the coming time.
Clearing infrastructure bottlenecks
From the perspective of the aviation market, Mr. Bui Doan Ne, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association, commented that in recent times, aviation authorities have always had to calculate and limit the market opening, partly due to the "coat" of cramped infrastructure. The level of competition in the Vietnamese aviation market has therefore remained low for many years. After the pandemic, infrastructure continues to be the biggest concern for the growth story in the coming period. Although many airports are continuously upgraded and expanded, most airports in major cities are operating at capacity. The country has 22 civil airports, including 9 international airports and 13 domestic airports. The total capacity of the entire airport network reaches 90.4 million passengers/year, but since 2018 it has been exploited to serve nearly 105 million passengers, and by 2019 it served 116 million passengers. All 3 largest international airports in our country are overloaded. Traffic jams on taxiways and parking lots at some major airports often occur, leading to flight delays and cancellations that are increasingly becoming a nightmare for passengers.
Meanwhile, after the pandemic and economic crisis, the aviation industry will quickly re-establish double-digit growth each year as before. Currently, to meet market demand, airlines have also prepared resources for a comprehensive recovery, including the international market. Vietnam's aviation market is considered one of the fastest growing markets in the region. Therefore, to meet infrastructure needs when the market recovers, the prerequisite is to soon invest, upgrade and expand existing airports as well as accelerate the construction of new airports to avoid congestion and overload.
"Tan Son Nhat Terminal 3 ensures to meet the increasingly strong passenger traffic of the domestic market, while Long Thanh Port is the largest infrastructure in Vietnam, the hub of international flights to and from Vietnam. Tan Son Nhat - Long Thanh Port Complex will clear infrastructure bottlenecks in the short term, and in the long term, ensure sustainable resources for the aviation market to have the opportunity to develop strongly in the future. Developed aviation infrastructure will create conditions for tourism development and vice versa, thereby creating jobs and revenue for related service providers and to some extent ensuring social security," said Mr. Bui Doan Ne.
How should passenger load be divided between Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh airports?
The Ministry of Transport and Ho Chi Minh City are studying the direct connection of Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat airports, possibly stemming from the strategy of using Tan Son Nhat airport as a domestic airport and Long Thanh as an international airport. However, this organization plan is not feasible because it does not bring economic efficiency. In principle, international port operations, domestic and international terminals must be close together. In the future, Ho Chi Minh City is aiming to become an aviation center, a logistics "hub" of the region and the world. Domestic flights, connecting to international flights must be organized quickly and conveniently to achieve the highest efficiency.
No other country in the world organizes to take passengers to the domestic airport and then carry their luggage to travel another 40 km by road or rail to another airport to fly internationally. Paris (France) also has 2 airports: Charles de Gaulle Airport in the north of the city and Orly Airport (ORY) in the south, near the city center. Short-haul international passengers can arrive/depart from Orly, while all long-haul flights are allocated to Charles de Gaulle. This is the urban airport management method that other countries in the world apply.
In order for Long Thanh to maximize its economic efficiency as well as reduce the load on Tan Son Nhat, it is necessary to ensure that both airports serve domestic and international passengers. In particular, Tan Son Nhat will only organize short-haul international flights within Southeast Asia or Asia, with medium-sized aircraft. Long Thanh will handle connecting flights around the world, with large aircraft and large capacity. At that time, both airports will still ensure their operating capacity, the passenger density to Tan Son Nhat will be significantly reduced, and traffic density will also be relieved. At the same time, people in Ho Chi Minh City traveling abroad, short-haul routes can conveniently go from Tan Son Nhat, instead of spending more time traveling a long distance to Long Thanh.
Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son
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