S Korean architect firm to supervise terminal construction at Long Thanh airport

South Korea's Heerim Architects & Planners has signed a “construction-phase supervision and advisory contract” for the passenger terminal being built at the Long Thanh International Airport in southern Vietnam.

A Monday report of the Korea Economic Daily said the Seoul-headquartered architecture firm will be responsible for design inspection and supervision during the construction phase. It made no mention of the contract’s value, but said its significance lay in Heerim's contribution to the airport’s design.

In 2018, Heerim was awarded the conceptual design contract for the Long Thanh Airport passenger terminal and it performed the basic design work a year.

The firm also secured in 2021 the contract for detailed design and completed it, the paper said, adding that Heerim was paid 28 billion won ($21.4 million) for the work.

Located in Dong Nai province, about 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City, the Long Thanh International Airport is a mega project that is expected to ease the burden on the city’s heavily overloaded Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

The VND336.63 trillion ($14.12 billion) project is divided into three phases. The first phase, worth VND110 trillion ($4.64 billion), will consist of a runway, terminal and auxiliary facilities that can serve 25 million passengers per year.

The project kicked off in 2021 and is expected to complete the first phase by 2025. The passenger terminal is the first phase’s largest investment package with a value of VND35.23 trillion ($1.49 billion). It is expected to be completed in 33 months.

In the second phase set for completion by 2035, another runway and terminal will be added, doubling the passenger capacity to 50 million. Other infrastructure that will be built by 2050 in the third phase will further double the airport's capacity to 100 million passengers.