HCMC – The Na San airport project in the northern mountainous province of Son La will be developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) format.
The provincial government has proposed the Government issue a resolution assigning Son La to call for investment to build the airport under the PPP model. The province is also seeking the Government’s approval to manage and operate the infrastructure facilities at the airport to mobilize private capital to upgrade the airport’s infrastructure.
The new Na San airport project will be built at the existing location of the old airport in Mai Son District.
In the first phase, the airport will serve one million passengers and 350 tons of cargo per year. For the second phase, it will be expanded to handle two million passengers and around 6,000 tons of commodities annually.
The existing Na San airport is severely aging, thus all infrastructure facilities serving civil flight operations at the airport will have to be rebuilt, including a runway measuring 2,600 meters long and 45 meters wide, taxiways, an apron accommodating five aircraft at a time, a signal light system, a 3,000-square-meter passenger terminal, a flight management center, among others.
The project will require more than VND3 trillion in investment, with VND2.5 trillion used for the first phase. The capital will be arranged via the PPP format and backed by the State budget and the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM).
The northern upland province pledged around VND450 billion for the project, with VND250 billion for site clearance, about VND24 billion for relocating taxiways and a military airport apron, and some VND176 billion for building infrastructure facilities.
As for VATM, it planned to spend VND180 billion on building the air traffic controller. The project’s investor will tap its own budget and take out bank loans to provide VND1.93 trillion for the project.
Given this capital allocation plan, the province estimated it would take 47 years and three months for the project to recoup investment. Besides, preparations for the project will take about one year from the second quarter of 2022 to the second one of 2023. The project is slated for completion in 2026.
