Investors needed to fund airport take off

Thanh Hoa province’s People’s Committee is calling for local and foreign investors to assist in the construction of the province’s civil airport.

A master plan on the Thanh Hoa airport was just trumpeted by the committee in conjunction with Ministry of Transport and Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration, under which, VND2.85 trillion ($146 million) would be needed to construct the project’s two phases, with the first (213 hectares) to cost $43.6 million and the second $102.6 million).

“We welcome all local and foreign firms to invest in this modern and important project via different forms of investment, including the public-private partnership model,” said vice head of the committee’s administrative division Trinh Ngoc Dung.

“Investors can engage in many parts of the project, such as terminals and runways and more. We will create special investment incentives for them,” Dung told VIR.

According to the committee, Thanh Hoa is in need of such an airport, which would help boost its socio-economic and tourism development while luring more foreign investors, especially those coming to the province’s Nghi Son Economic Zone in search of investment opportunities.

Located in Tinh Gia district’s Hai Ninh commune, 30 kilometres south of Thanh Hoa city and 1.5km east of the National Highway 1A, the project is expected to see its first phase operational in 2020, with air routes to Hanoi’s Gia Lam airport, Haiphong city’s Cat Bi airport, Danang city’s Danang airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport. The airport, home to small planes like the ATR72, will be able to transport 250,000 passengers and 10,000 tonnes of cargo per year.

The airport’s second phase is set to be constructed after 2020, when other domestic routes, with A320 and A321 airplanes, to Buon Ma Thuot, Dalat and Nha Trang as well as several short international flights are opened, raising the airport’s capacity to 1 million passengers and 20,000 tonnes of cargo each year.

Construction of the airport was initiated in 2006 when the Nghi Son Economic Zone was established. Its planning was approved one year ago.

“At present, more than half a million Thanh Hoa inhabitants are living in many parts of the country, mainly in the southern region, including Ho Chi Minh City. The airport is expected to help locals to return home quickly,” Dung said.

It is also expected that the airport would be developed into an international airport after 2030. – VIR

Tags: Thanh Hoa airport, Vietnam aviation, Vietnam aviation industry, Vietnam aviation market