Ministry approves new location for Vung Tau’s airport

The Ministry of Transport has agreed on a new location for the airport in Vung Tau city as suggested by the local government, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) said.
CAAV announced the ministry’s approval last week after Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang met with relevant agencies of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

The aviation authority had been requested to ask the Ministry of Defense to seek approval of the Prime Minister for the new site for the Vung Tau Airport.

The existing airport in Vung Tau will be upgraded to handle both military flights and services for air taxi, chartered flights and flights to oil facilities off Ba Ria-Vung Tau in line with a master zoning plan for Vietnam’s civil aviation development as endorsed by the Prime Minister in January 2009.

The current Vung Tau Airport has a 1,800m-long runway and is able to handle small-sized planes and helicopters. CAAV said this airport now served military flights and was not opened to civil services.

CAAV did not mention the new location for the Vung Tau Airport. However, the Ba Ria-Vung Tau government issued a document two years ago to order its agencies to prepare a plan for the new site of the airport with a 2,000m-long runway in Long Son Commune.

In addition to the Vung Tau Airport, Ba Ria-Vung Tau is also home to Con Dao Airport off the coast of the province. Currently, Con Dao Airport, which is under the management of Southern Airports Corp. (SAC), serves daily domestic flights to and from HCMC by Vietnam Air Service Co. (Vasco) under Vietnam Airlines Corp. and private carrier Air Mekong.

Located 185 km from Vung Tau city and 230 km from HCMC, Con Dao Airport on Con Son Island has a 1,830m-long, 30m-wide runway and a 9,270-square-meter parking area for ATR-72, Fokker and Bombardier CRJ-900 airplanes.

The airport’s two-floor terminal received 94,305 passengers on nearly 1,950 flights last year compared to more than 67,270 passengers and 1,310 flights in 2009. – Tuoitre

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