As Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City grapples with an overwhelming volume of passengers far beyond its design capacity, experts cannot agree on which expansion option is best for the airport and the city. Most opinions support either of the two options: expanding the airport to the north where a controversial golf course is currently located, or expanding it to the south toward an already congested residential area. With little time left until the most practical options are to be submitted to the Vietnamese prime minister for final approval, two separate meetings were held on Monday and Tuesday in Hanoi to hear arguments from supporters of both sides. Southward expansion At a meeting with the Ministry of Transport on Tuesday, France’s ADP Ingénierie (ADPi), a company specializing in airport architecture and engineering, proposed expanding Tan Son Nhat to the south with a view to raising the airport’s capacity to over 50 million passengers yearly by 2025. The airport served over 32 million passengers in 2016, while its current capacity is only around 25 million. To achieve the goal, ADPi suggests a renovation of current taxiways and aircraft stands with the addition of a new terminal to the south of the current airport. As far as traffic congestion is concerned, the engineering firm said the issue can be resolved by building a new link road reserved only for vehicles entering and exiting the airport, apart from existing mixed-use roads. A map of Tan Son Nhat International Airport…. [Read full story]
Tan Son Nhat, Vietnam’s busiest airport, is already operating above its capacity. Tan Son Nhat, the country’s busiest and biggest airport, will increase the number of night flights in the weeks leading to the Lunar New Year holiday in an attempt to ease congestion. The Ho Chi Minh City airport is currently operating a total of 38 passenger flights per hour between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., leaving little room to squeeze in more flights, said aviation authorities. Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, suggested carriers increase the number of night flights as the Lunar…... [read more]
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has promised to provide US$233.3 million in official development assistance (ODA) for Ho Chi Minh City to build a metro line connecting to Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has promised to provide US$233.3 million in official development assistance (ODA) for Ho Chi Minh City to build a metro line connecting to Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Metro line 4 b-1 will run over two kilometers from the Lang Cha Ca Intersection to Tan Son Nhat Airport in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Construction of the metro…... [read more]
Field surveys and excavations are underway at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City to search for a mass grave said to contain the remains of hundreds of Vietnamese soldiers killed in wartime.
The grave is suspected to be located in an open field to the west of the airport near the end of one of its runways.
According to Major General Tran Huu Tai, deputy political commissar of Vietnam’s 7th Military Region, if the information that there is such a grave proves accurate, it should contain the remains of hundreds of Vietnamese soldiers…... [read more]
The dry season is over a month early as sudden two hour rain has turned HCMC streets into canals. Unexpected heavy rain on Saturday afternoon has caught Ho Chi Minh City residents off guard, seriously flooding the city, including Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and paralyzing railroads in Thu Duc District. Pictures of planes parked in large pools of water went viral on social media and reminded the online community of a similar incident last summer which back then prompted the city to spend over $16 million to improve the airport's drainage system. The two hour rain washed away many…... [read more]
Many passengers were forced to wait for a long time at a major airport in Ho Chi Minh City as multiple flights were delayed for up to 12 hours on Saturday. A series of flights operated by low-cost carriers Vietjet and Jetstar Pacific, which were scheduled for the Ho Chi Minh City to northern Vietnam route, were postponed for long hours. Flyers had no choice but to wait at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. As of 7:00 pm, many people could not hide the exhaustion and frustration as they had been waiting since the morning. Passengers sit on the floor…... [read more]
