The move followed the Ministry of Transport’s report that consulting firms had completed the airport upgrade planning to submit to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam for approval in October.
A corner of Con Dao Airport.
However, until now, the planning has not yet been ratified. So, the province has asked the ministry to quicken the planning to early conduct the airport upgrade project.
According to the adjusted development plan for the aviation sector until 2020 with a view to 2030 adopted by the prime minister, Con Dao Airport will be used for military purposes and civil services with a yearly capacity of 2 million passengers. It will cover a 141-ha land plot and cost VND2.3 trillion (USD99 million).
In 2006, the airport was upgraded again to serve 300,000 passengers annually, but it can only operate for 12 hours a day because of being located in a valley with bad weather. Two sides are surrounded by the hills and two sides are the sea and the lighting system is too out-dated for night flights.
In the past years, VASCO has increased the number of flights to Con Dao to 20 return flights as demand is high. The number of visitors to Con Dao Island has grown by 25-30% annually.