Authorities are considering a direct road between Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat airports that's reserved only for inter-airport travelers.
At a meeting last week, Minister of Transportation Nguyen Van The asked authorities to look into building a road from Saigon's Tan Son Nhat International Airport to the planned Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai Province. He stressed it should be off-limits to vehicles not traveling the 40 kilometers between the aerodromes to avoid the type of traffic that engulfs Saigon's facilities.
The also underscored the country's need for it by explaining: "70-80 percent of foreign visitors will be traveling from one airport to the other. We need to have a dedicated route for these passengers. Foreign visitors would not be able to use buses and urban railways as this would be difficult even for domestic passengers."
At the moment, the intended mode of transport between the two airports is a future light rail route linking Saigon's Thu Thiem Ward and Dong Nai. However, as construction of such an infrastructure is likely to be time-consuming and complex, it's unlikely to be done when Long Thanh Airport goes into operation. In addition to the planned light rail from Thu Thiem to Long Thanh, authorities are aiming for the construction of Cat Lai Bridge, Dong Nai's Highway 25 and Belt Road 3 to connect the rest of the province and the Mekong Delta to the airport.
The first phase of Long Thanh Airport has an expected completion date in 2025 and will consist of one runway and one terminal that can handle 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo a year. The next two phases will be built in 2030-2035 and 2040-2050, respectively, adding additional terminals and runways which will ultimately provide for 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo. The cost of the total project is VND336.6 trillion (US$16.03 billion) with VND114.5 trillion (US$5.45 billion) marked for the first phase.
[Photo via TinTM]
