Transport ministry seeks private capital to enlarge Con Dao airport

The Ministry of Transport is studying the feasibility of expanding the Con Dao airport in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province as a public-private partnership (PPP) or public investment project.

It is set to submit a proposal to the Prime Minister before end-November after the studies.

The ministry's Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said both options are feasible, adding that it will become the investor if the PM approves the expansion as a public investment project.

If the project is to be a PPP investment, the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau will be in charge of the project and it will not be implemented on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis to ensure that the state retains controlling rights in key infrastructure.

The public investment option will ensure the rights of state enterprises at the airport, the stability of airport operations, defense and security, the CAAV said. "However, the state-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) is not in a position to allocate budget in the 2021-2025 period for the Con Dao airport upgrade," it noted.

While the PPP option will mobilize private capital and ease pressures on the state budget and the ACV, it can impact coordination of defense and security issues at the airport, the CAAV emphasized.

The Con Dao airport is likely to face an overload of passengers soon. According to the existing plan, the airport is set to serve 500,000 passengers a year by 2025. However, it had already served 447,750 passengers in 2020, even amidst the complications of Covid-19. With the expected average passenger growth of 22.7% a year, the airport would be overloaded soon, the CAAV added.

In April this year, the transport ministry had urged the ACV to spend VND1,400 billion ($56.42 million) on upgrading the Con Dao airport on the eponymous archipelago.

Under the expansion project, a new passenger terminal will be built to serve two million people and 4,400 tons of cargo each year. The airport apron will also be expanded to serve eight aircraft instead of four, and to handle Airbus A320, A321 and other mid-sized aircraft.

The airport currently hosts flights from and to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Can Tho city in Mekong Delta, with 20-22 flights a day and 400,000 passengers per year.

Con Dao is an archipelago off the coast of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in southern Vietnam, comprising 16 islands. It has a diverse marine ecosystem and rich history, making it one of the top destinations for local and foreign tourists.

The islands are home to jails dating back to the French colonial and Vietnam war periods. The jail system was built in 1861 by the French to imprison those considered a threat to the colonial regime. Over 100 years, some 20,000 revolutionaries and other patriots were jailed, tortured or killed at the site, which is now a special national relic.