Vietnam’s busiest airport to increase its capacity
In order to counter congestion, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International airport is about to be upgraded.
The city’s airport is about to add a new runway, two terminals and additional aircraft parking spaces, which will help handling 40 to 50 million passengers per year. This will be a godsend for the southern hub, as the airport catered 32 million passengers in 2016, a significantly higher number compared to its current capacity (25 million passengers).
Planned during the course of 2016, the expansion was finally given a Go by the Government, after the Ministry of Defense agreed to step away from the airport. The first phase of the project, which is due in 2019, will add the runway and the parking spaces (aprons), raising the airport’s capacity to 38 million travelers per year.
In addition to the current airport’s upgrade, the planned Long Thanh International Airport, some 50km away from Ho Chi Minh City, is not going to start operating before 2025. Currently, the site’s land clearance has begun. With the fast economic development, Vietnam’s air travel is increasing significantly, hence putting pressure on the country’s aviation infrastructure.
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