Long Thanh airport, which is to be built in Dong Nai Province, is four times larger than Tan Son Nhat airport. — Photo dddn

DONG NAI (Biz Hub) — Southern Dong Nai Province's People's Committee expects to speed up land clearance for the construction of the Long Thanh International Airport, which is slated to begin in 2015.

The construction planned to cover an area of over 5,000ha would affect 4,500 households in the province's Long Thanh District, about 40km from HCM City. It is expected to surpass Tan Son Nhat International Airport and become the biggest airport in Viet Nam.

Speaking at a meeting about the preparation with Airports Corporation of Viet Nam and Japan International Co-operation Agency on Wednesday, vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee Tran Van Vinh said the urgent task now was to speed up the land clearance and resettlement for households in affected areas.

Out of the 4,500 affected households, 3,000 would have to move to new areas, he said, adding that other facilities including religious buildings, schools and about 1,000 graves would be removed.

Compensation and resettlement would cost over VND15 trillion (US$714 million), he said.

He expected that project investors would arrange proper capital so that land clearance and compensation work would be started early next year and finish by 2015.

Vinh said that the province planned to develop two resettlements; each covers an area of 280ha.

The construction would need about 24,000 workers, he said, adding that the local authority would work closely with investors and contractors on employment for the dislocated residents to ensure their livelihoods.

Other facilities include water and power supplies, transport linkages and telecommunications were to be made ready for the construction work.

Long Thanh International Airport would cost an estimated 300 billion yen ($3.6 billion) for its major components, including the runway and air traffic control centre.

Mitsubishi Corp, Taisei Corp, Japan Airport Consultants Inc and Narita International Airport Corp used capital from JICA to conduct research on the project.

The airport is planned to become operational by 2020, when its capacity could reach 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per year.

By 2030, it is expected to have four runways and four terminals, one of the largest in the region with a designed capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo every year, receiving 90 per cent of international flights and 20 per cent of local flights to and from HCM City. — VNS