Prime Minister: 'Strive to complete Long Thanh airport 6 months ahead of schedule'

Dong Nai Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that this year the investor needs to speed up so that next year there will be a breakthrough, completing Long Thanh airport in early 2026, 6 months ahead of schedule.

The request was made by the Government leader to engineers and workers when visiting the Long Thanh airport project site on the morning of February 13 (the 4th day of Tet). Despite the hot weather, nearly 1,000 engineers and workers are still working through Tet to take advantage of favorable weather during the dry season.

The Prime Minister encouraged workers at the Long Thanh International Airport construction site. Photo: VGP — The Prime Minister encouraged workers at the Long Thanh International Airport construction site. Photo: *VGP*

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged and highly appreciated the progress of the implementation of the items, in which site clearance and basic procedures have been completed, the 4 km long, 74 m wide runway has taken shape, and the underground part of the terminal has also been completed.

According to the Prime Minister, if 2022-2023 is the starting year, 2024 is the acceleration year and 2025 is the breakthrough year, the first 6 months of 2026 must be completed. "We need to strive to shorten the time by 3-6 months, make up for the delay, and launch the competition from now until April 30, 2025," said the Prime Minister.

The previous plan was to complete the project in early 2026, but due to difficulties in bidding for the passenger terminal package, the project's commissioning date was delayed by 6 months.

According to the report of Vietnam Airlines Corporation (ACV - the investor), after more than 5 months of starting construction of the passenger terminal, runway, apron... the contractors have mobilized more than 3,200 workers and nearly 1,300 machines and equipment for construction. To date, the disbursement of public investment for the bid packages has reached more than 11,300 billion VND.

Prime Minister gives gifts to people who give up land for Long Thanh airport project. Photo: VGP — Prime Minister gives gifts to people who give up land for Long Thanh airport project. Photo: *VGP*

Previously, visiting the Loc An - Binh Son resettlement area, the Prime Minister requested Dong Nai to do a good job in planning resettlement areas and hoped that people would try their best with partial support from the State to soon settle down and make a living.

The Government leader also noted that localities and agencies need to pay attention to synchronously building social infrastructure such as schools, medical stations, cultural and sports facilities... to serve the needs of the people. In addition, he also requested relevant units to review and create jobs and livelihoods for people affected by the project, giving priority to using local workers to work at the current project and the Long Thanh airport project when completed.

Long Thanh Airport has a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tons of cargo per year. The total investment capital of the project is about 336,630 billion VND (about 16 billion USD). Of which, phase one is 114,450 billion VND (equivalent to 5.45 billion USD). According to the forecast of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, when operating, this airport will need about 13,800 workers, with qualifications ranging from high school to university.

Phuoc Tuan

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