HCMC – The Transport Ministry is adjusting a zoning plan to upgrade Con Dao airport in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province at an estimated cost of VND2.3 trillion, according to Tran Thien Chi, head of the provincial transport authority.
Once the upgrade is completed, the airport will cover 141 hectares of land, meet the 4C standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and serve two million passengers annually.
A recent report of the provincial transport department revealed that in late April, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung allowed the Transport Ministry to make adjustments to the airport’s zoning plan.
As the airport’s runway has to encroach on the beach by an additional 120 meters, the ministry asked the consulting unit of the project and the State-run Vietnam Airlines JSC to review the project design to ensure the runway can be put into service and meets the ICAO’s requirements after the upgradation.
Besides this, Vietnam Airlines JSC has worked out a plan to rehabilitate the runway, expand the aprons, construct an additional passenger terminal and other flight-related facilities for the 2020-2022 period.
Con Dao airport, which was built during the French colonial period, was upgraded in 2004 to receive ATR72, F70 and similar aircraft, with four aprons serving both civil and military flights. Its runway is 1,830 meters long and 30 meters wide and its 3,792-square-meter terminal can serve 200 passengers at a time.
The airport is currently being operated by Vietnam Air Service Company, with 11 daily flights on the two routes linking Con Dao with HCMC and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.
