The final bottlenecks on the ground
At the beginning of August, the construction site of Quang Tri Airport was still under construction day and night. Hundreds of engineers and workers accelerated to complete the goal of welcoming the first flight at the end of 2026.
After more than 2 years of implementation, site clearance work, one of the most complex stages of large-scale infrastructure projects, is reaching its final stages at Quang Tri Airport.
According to local reports, to date, the project has completed site clearance on an area of 267,804 ha, reaching almost absolute compared to the total scale of 267,974 ha. The remaining area is only about 0.32 ha in Cua Viet commune, related to 3 affected cases.
For the 110 kV power line relocation item, relevant units are focusing on implementing compensation and support work. The compensation plan for the foundation of the power pole has basically been completed and is being approved according to regulations.
For the corridor section, functional agencies have completed inventory and preliminary pricing for 12 cases, and at the same time coordinated to pay compensation in advance for 9 cases. The remaining cases are being reviewed for dossiers, determining the origin of land use, measuring and completing compensation plans to soon hand over the site for construction.
Through actual inspection and dialogue with households in Truc Lam village, Gio Linh commune affected by the 110 kV power line item, Vice Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee Le Duc Tien requested departments, branches and localities to continue to closely coordinate, review, and fully implement compensation and support regimes and policies according to regulations; and at the same time strengthen propaganda and mobilization to create consensus in the project implementation process.
Provincial leaders also requested to focus on promptly removing difficulties and obstacles, accelerating the progress of site clearance and completing related procedures, ensuring the project is implemented on schedule.
In fact, for a large-scale infrastructure project like Quang Tri Airport, site clearance is a key stage determining the implementation speed of the entire project. In the final sprint phase, local working groups still continuously stick to the grassroots level, going to each household to dialogue, explain, remove obstacles and complete the final procedures.
According to the officials directly involved, the review of dossiers, verification of land origin, updating progress and handling of arising issues are carried out almost continuously. Many exchanges lasting until late at night, information on progress and handling plans are still updated regularly to ensure that the last bottlenecks are removed as quickly as possible.
The goal set is not only to complete site clearance on schedule, but also to create the highest consensus among the people. This is also considered an important condition for construction units to accelerate and bring Quang Tri Airport to the finish line according to the set plan.
Efforts to take off at the end of the year
Present at the large construction site of Quang Tri Airport in the early days of August, the most noticeable thing is the almost non-stop construction pace. Under the scorching sun and continuous Lao winds, hundreds of engineers, workers and dozens of mechanical equipment still work shifts from early morning to late at night, taking advantage of every hour to speed up the progress of the final items.
The sound of excavators and the sound of welding and cutting metal continuously echoed throughout the construction site covering nearly 268 hectares. Many construction teams and teams actively registered to work overtime on weekends, overtime in the evening, and even work overnight to ensure overall progress.
In the passenger terminal area, Mr. Nguyen Son Ha, a mechanical and electrical system worker, and colleagues are busy completing the final technical items.
Hot weather is really hard, but this is the final sprint stage, so the brothers are trying to work overtime so that the project can reach the finish line soon," Mr. Ha said briefly amidst the noisy sound of machinery.
Not only Mr. Ha's team, dozens of other construction teams are also accelerating throughout the construction site. In the substation area, Mr. Hoang Viet Hau, 55 years old, a resident of Gio Linh commune, is still diligently completing the final parts under the scorching heat of the Central region. Attached to the project from the early days, Mr. Hau is currently in charge of a team with more than 30 workers, mostly local workers.
For many local workers, Quang Tri airport is not only an infrastructure project but also a project that people have been waiting for for a long time.
Representatives of the Quang Tri Airport Project Management Board said that as of now, many key items have completed the structural part and moved to the completion phase. Most recently, a joint venture of investors including T&T Infrastructure Investment and Development Co., Ltd., CIENCO4 Group JSC and Quang Tri Airport Co., Ltd. held a ceremony to lift the roof of the 11-story air traffic control tower. This is one of the most important items of the project, playing the role of operating, controlling and ensuring safety for all flight operations in the future.
In parallel, at the passenger terminal, the main structural items have been basically completed. Internal and external plastering, installation of steel roof structures and auxiliary items and technical infrastructure are being deployed synchronously.
For the runway area, which is 2,400 m long and 45 m wide, all items such as the safety rail, material curbs and drainage system have reached the finish line. The runway and the airfield drainage system have also completed the stages of organic decomposition, mud dredging, foundation excavation and ground compaction, meeting technical requirements.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Duong - representative of the Quang Tri Airport Project Management Board - said that the project has now entered the finishing stage. On many construction fronts, contractors are maintaining the working pace according to the "3 shifts, 4 crews" model to accelerate progress, aiming to welcome the first flight by the end of 2026.
According to the adjusted plan, Quang Tri is striving to become a growth pole of the North Central region, an energy, logistics, marine economy center and a gateway connecting with Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and the expanded Mekong sub-region. In that strategy, Quang Tri Airport is expected to become a driving force to expand development space, promote regional linkages and international integration. When operating synchronously with My Thuy seaport, the international border gate system, the North-South Expressway and the East-West Economic Corridor, the airport will contribute to forming a multimodal transportation network, creating a foundation for the development of trade, services and logistics.
As Vietnam's second PPP airport, Quang Tri Airport not only opens a new trade gateway for the North Central region but also shows the increasingly clear role of the private sector in national infrastructure development. For T&T Group and partners, the project is part of a long-term investment strategy in key areas such as transportation, logistics, energy and aviation, aiming to form growth poles and new connectivity networks for the region.
