According to the newly issued plan, the 326ha airport will be designed to serve both civil and military flights and able to receive 2-2.5 million passengers yearly by 2020 and large aircrafts like B777, B787, B747-400 and A350.
Van Don International Airport will receive 2-2.5 million passengers yearly by 2020
|
At the announcement ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho asked departments and units to inspect and manage the project; popularize the project to people in the area as well as make all efforts to ensure that the investment is effective.
Vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province, Nguyen Van Thanh affirmed that the provincial authorities will delegate investors to speed up the construction process in accordance with the plan approved by the Prime Minister.
Located in the Quang Ninh province’s Van Don Island, Van Don International Airport, the first airport invested by a private business in Vietnam, is scheduled to be operational in late June 2018.
The airport started construction in 2015 and is the first airport project in Vietnam developed under build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, with a payback period of 45 years. It was invested at a cost of nearly VND7.5 trillion (US$330 million), including the costs for site clearance of about VND640 billion, by property developer Sun Group.
Authorities have so far urged relevant agencies to complete remaining works to be able to put the airport into operation as scheduled.
The province urged the Van Don Investment and Development Company under the Sun Group, which will operate the facility when it becomes operational, to complete legal procedures to put the airport into operation.
In addition, the developer must actively cooperate with carriers such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet for support and consultancy on the first flights. It will also have to study and raise policies to encourage carriers to start flights to Van Don.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc early last year approved the policy to upscale the airport from a domestic to international airport. The airport is expected to help attract investment and tourists to Van Don Island and Ha Long Bay.
The government has so far also given a nod to develop Van Don into a special administrative-economic unit of the northern region.
Quang Ninh province is also actively investing to complete traffic infrastructure and calling for more investment in service, tourism and high-tech projects to prepare for the establishment of its Van Don special administrative, economic unit.
Nguyen Manh Tuan, Head of Management Board of Quang Ninh Economic Zone, recently said that the province’s authorities have so far invited the world's leading planning consultants and experts to cooperate in studying and proposing measures to help Van Don develop modernly, synchronously and feasibly with ensuring regional connection and having a global competitiveness.
According to Tuan, Van Don is targeted to be a green, modern and smart island urban area with a dynamic economic center that develops new occupations at high level, focusing on services, high-grade tourism and modern entertainment industry.
The area will be also designed to become a center of innovation and creation besides being an international trade center lying in the China-ASEAN economic corridor, Tuan said.
