Central Vietnam to have new airport Mang Den

Procedures to adjust Vietnam's airport system planning, including the addition of Mang Den Airport in central Vietnam, are being proceeded, according to the Ministry of Construction.

The Mang Den Airport project is set to be implemented in Mang Den commune, Quang Ngai province, with an annual capacity of about 1 million passengers by 2030.

After the planning adjustments are approved by the Prime Minister, the Quang Ngai province People's Committee will coordinate with the construction ministry to make preparations and seek approval for the detailed planning of Mang Den Airport, the ministry added in a document.

According to preliminary research, the airport will be located in Mang Den commune, the former province of Kon Tum, now part of Quang Ngai province.

It is about 73 km northeast of Pleiku Airport (in the former province of Gia Lai, now part of the new Gia Lai province), about 105 km northwest of Phu Cat Airport (in the former province of Binh Dinh, now part of Gia Lai province), and about 93 km southwest of Chu Lai Airport (in the former province of Quang Nam, now part of the new Danang city).

The airport will be located entirely on a mountainous area, covering about 350 hectares.

The planned annual capacity is about 1 million passengers. It is oriented to possibly go beyond that capacity after 2030.

The airport will be of level 4C which refers to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) classification for runway design and the types of aircraft it can handle.

'4' indicates a runway length of 1,800 meters or more, and 'C' signifies an aircraft wingspan and main landing gear span appropriate for aircraft like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families.

Kon Tum and Quang Ngai were recently merged to form the new Quang Ngai province, which borders Gia Lai, Da Nang, Laos, Cambodia, and the East Sea.

A recent petition sent by voters of Quang Ngai province asked the construction ministry for investment policies to upgrade the Highway No. 24 which is a vital route connecting the eastern and western regions of the central province, build Quang Ngai-Kon Tum Expressway, and develop Mang Den Airport.

In response, the ministry stated that it agrees with the proposal on upgrading and renovating the National Highway 24 to facilitate convenient connection between the two important economic, political and cultural centers of Kon Tum and Quang Ngai.

Regarding the Quang Ngai-Kon Tum Expressway investment, the ministry said that according to the Road Network Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, the expressway (CT.42) connects with the North-South Expressway in the East and the North-South Expressway in the West, with a length of about 136 km, four lanes, and investment completion scheduled before 2030.

Mang Den Airport is set to be built under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, with total investment of nearly VND5 trillion ($196.8 million) for the first phase.

This was stated in a proposal by the Ministry of Transport to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh late last year, seeking to have Mang Den Airport added to the national airport development plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision until 2050.