Domestic and international air traffic is growing rapidly in Vietnam, placing intense strain on the country’s largest airports.
VnExpress reports that 26.4 million domestic passengers flew within the country in the first eight months of the year, a 27.3% increase over last year. Cheap air fares and promotions aimed at the domestic market have made flying far more attractive to many who used to travel by bus or train. Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors arriving by air hit 5.4 million in the same period, 28.5% more than in 2015.
As a result, the news source explains, the airports in Hanoi and Saigon are operating well above their designed capacities. Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), told VnExpress that Tan Son Nhat International is expected to handle 31 million passengers by the end of the year, while it is only intended to service 25 million.
For its part, the domestic terminal at Hanoi’s Noi Bai welcomed 12 million passengers last year, while it is only designed for 8 million.
Major expansions of both airports have been proposed, but the central government has yet to approve them. A US$5.5 billion expansion of Noi Bai that would double its capacity to 50 million passengers per year by 2030 has been tabled, but CAAV is still waiting for the go-ahead to begin work.
Closer to home, the CAAV has asked the Ministry of National Defense to give up some of its land at Tan Son Nhat in order to build a new terminal and more aircraft parking spaces, increasing the facility’s capacity to 40 million passengers per year. This plan has received preliminary approval, but it is not a certainty.
The most ambitious project aimed at alleviating Vietnam’s airport woes is Long Thanh International Airport, which would be built in Dong Nai Province, 40 kilometers from Saigon. However, the massive aerodrome is expected to cost US$16 billion, and if construction begins in 2019 as currently planned the first stage won’t be ready until 2025. By then, Tan Son Nhat will be creaking under the pressure of 50 million passengers per year.
[Photo via DHSaigon]
