A bird's eye view of the Long Thanh Airport project in the southern province of Dong Nai. It is estimated that an investment of US$5.6 billion is needed for the first phase of the airport's construction. — Photo Giaothongvantai.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The construction of one runway and a terminal to accommodate 17 million passengers per year under the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project in southern Dong Nai Province, will cost an estimated US$5.6 billion.

The project is set to be carried out over the next three years and includes both construction and land clearance to cover a surface area of more than 2,500 ha. The Long Thanh International Airport project forms part of a plan the Transport Ministry has compiled for the Government which may reach the National Assembly agenda next month.

The proposal claims a reduction in both the scale and investment required for the first phase.

Two months ago, the Airport Corporation of Viet Nam proposed completing Long Thanh airport's first phase by 2020 with two runways for modern airliners and costing more than $7 billion.

The ministry said it would be difficult to raise the hefty sum and consequently, the first phase would be divided into two parts to ensure its feasibility. The first phase will instead require $5.6 billion with the second phase billed at around $2.2 billion, which would see the construction of another runway and the completion of 2,400 ha of land clearance.

Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said the State's budget, Government bonds and official development assistance would contribute $2.7 billion, accounting for 48.3 per cent of required investment between 2017 and 2023.

The remaining sum, more than $2.9 billion, would be raised from enterprises or through public-private partnerships.

Thang also said foreign investors Samsung, CHK Incheon and France's ADPi Group had showed interest in the project.

According to the authorities in Dong Nai Province, about 3,320 houses would be cleared to make room for the airport project. The cost of site clearance and compensation was estimated to be nearly VND20.8 trillion ($990 million) in 2013.

The second phase is scheduled for completion by 2030, which would see the airport have a total of three runways to field around 50 million passengers each year.

The third phase, due to be completed after 2030, would see a total of four runways in the airport, expected to receive up to 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo annually. — VNS