French consultant firm ADP-I reported on expansion plans on December 21, 2017
According to ADP-I, two northern expansion plan can improve capacity to 50 million and 70 million annually but the cost to clear more than 61.37 hectares will be huge. Moreover, the construction cost will also be high, the progress will be slow and there will be a huge impact on the surrounding environment. The airport's capacity may actually be badly affected.
The company proposed using the plan to expand to the south and north at the same time. This plan is more efficient, has lower cost and will improve the capacity of Tan Son Nhat Airport to serve 50 million passengers a year.
In the first phase, HCM City can build a new terminal in the southern area of the airport with a capacity of serving 15 million passengers a year and expand to 20 million passengers in the second phase. The logistics buildings can be built in the north while the terminal can be built on the 16.37-hectare land the military has just transferred to the city authorities.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved of the plan and said Tan Son Nhat Airport is a civil airport combined with military flight operation. Meanwhile, the Long Thanh Airport project is also being sped up to help ease overloading at Tan Son Nhat Airport.
He also asked HCM City authorities to better manage the infrastructure and traffic around the airport to avoid congestion. The Ministry of Transport was asked to work with ADP-I to quickly complete the plan and find funding.
