December start scheduled for work on Long Thanh Airport approach roads

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and Dong Nai province authorities expect to begin work this December on two approach roads for the Long Thanh International Airport.

The corporation said Monday that it would launch bids to select construction contractors this November. To date, 60% of the technical designs for the two approach roads have been completed, and ACV will submit soon the finished dossier to the Ministry of Transport for appraisal.

Work on the 5,580-hectare airport in Long Thanh district, which is to be built in three phases, had begun in 2021. About 40 kilometers east of Ho Chi Minh City, the new airport is scheduled to open in 2025 after completion of the first phase, annually serving 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo.

Once it is fully completed in 2050, it is expected to relieve overloading at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo.

According to an ACV feasibility study, the approach road No.1 to the new airport will be 3.8-km long and 85-120-m wide, with eight main lanes and six subordinate lanes. This will be the main road to get in and out of the airport after the first phase.

The approach road No.2, 3.5-km long with four lanes, will run alongside the upcoming Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway. It will link the approach road No.1 to the existing Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway.

The ACV estimates the cost of building both approach roads at VND4,800 billion ($204.8 million).

Long Thanh district officials plan to claim more than 130 hectares to build the roads, including around 110 hectares from local residents, affecting more than 900 households.

After completing the two approach roads, ACV will build a third one, which would be 8.5-km long to connect the new airport with the upcoming Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Expressway. The company has not yet estimated the cost of building the approach road No.3.

Dong Nai will develop five major urban areas to cash in on the Long Thanh International Airport, set to become the largest one in the country. The five areas are the towns of Bien Hoa and Long Khanh and the districts of Nhon Trach, Trang Bom and Long Thanh.