Discussions are under way to upgrade and improve airports in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi as both near capacity.
Talking about the plans to upgrade and expand the airports, Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Lai Xuan Thanh said bothTan Son Nhat Airport and Noi Bai Airport would be expanded.
Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Lai Xuan Thanh
Thanh said, "Noi Bai Airport has a total handling capacity of 25 million passengers per year but with a massive surge of 31% in the first quarter, the airport will be overloaded in the next three years."
In order to deal with the issue, a plan has been mapped out by 2030 with view to 2050 to upgrade the airport's capacity to 50 million passengers per year. However, Thanh said the task to expand the airport was difficult.
"It has to be expanded southward but this land is crowded with residential areas so ground clearance is going to be difficult. If everything goes according to plan, the expansion will cover 720 hectares opposite Noi Bai Airport. The estimated cost for ground clearance and resettlement is USD2bn and the construction will cost USD3.5bn. We’re gathering opinions for this project," he said.
Vietnam’s airports are serving 25 million passengers a month in which Tan Son Nhat Airport served an average of 10 million passengers a month in the first quarter of 2016, about 40% of the country’s total passengers. This rate has actually decreased comparing to the 50% rate in previous years. This shows that activities at many local airports have picked up and they can share some of Tan Son Nhat’s burden.
Last year, Minister of Defence Phung Quang Thanh has agreed to the transfer of 20 hectares of land used by the military at Tan Son Nhat Airport for civilian use in an attempt to ease overloading. The military may have option to use the land if necessary in the future. In addition HCM City authorities are hoping to expand connecting roads to avoid congestion.
There are also plans to upgrade the airport's runway and expand the domestic terminals to receive four to five million more passengers.
Thanh said Vietnam market was gaining attention even though Vietnamese airlines' combined share in the international market had fallen last year from 48.2% to 43% in the first quarter. This is because international airliners are increasing flights to Vietnam.
"Actually, we want to pull the share of Vietnamese airlines down for international airlines that are focusing on Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. It's part of our competition plan," he said.
He went on to say VietnamAirlines and VietjetAir were strong players and competing with 40% to 42% market share and that passengers would benefit from healthy competition.
