On March 1st, after a field inspection of the Quang Ngai - Hoai Nhon expressway component project, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Central Working Delegation came to inspect the Project of Building runway No. 2 and synchronous works at Phu Cat airport area.
Reporting to the Prime Minister on the scale and progress, the investor said that the project is designed to ensure the reception of Code C aircraft such as A320, A321 and equivalents; Code E aircraft can be received when needed. The total investment of the project is 3, 245 billion VND.
Currently, contractors have mobilized manpower, equipment, and materials to organize 10 roadbed construction teams. There are about 500 people at the construction site, including 40 engineers and 460 technical workers, drivers, machine drivers and many construction equipment.
To date, the volume of embankment soil has reached about 40,000m3/day, equivalent to a value of about 7 billion VND. Accumulated to date, about 2.1 million m3 of foundation soil has been embanked...
To ensure progress and take advantage of favorable weather, the contractor will add 3 more construction teams for the road surface foundation structure, organizing 3 shifts, 4 teams.
According to the plan, the roadbed of the runway and taxiway area will be completed in March 2026; the crushed stone base will be completed in May 2026; the concrete surface of the runway and taxiway will be completed in June 2026 and the standard flight will be in July 2026.
Through field inspection of the project, the Prime Minister praised the efforts of localities, contractors, consulting units, and design; and at the same time requested to continue to ensure progress, quality, and safe handling of artifacts and materials remaining at the construction site.
The Prime Minister shared about the fact that there were previous concerns that when assigning a large project to the locality as the investor, it would be difficult to ensure construction capacity and quality, and project progress. However, actual implementation shows that Gia Lai province has organized implementation well.
According to the Prime Minister, the decentralization and delegation of power to localities is a correct policy, but it must go hand in hand with strengthening inspection and supervision, not allowing negativity and group interests to occur. The spirit is "both doing and inspecting", auditing wherever the settlement is made, ensuring publicity and transparency.
Regarding the management, exploitation and operation of the project, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that he will continue to assign Gia Lai province to directly operate, ensuring optimal airport operation efficiency.
The expansion of Phu Cat Airport not only serves local socio-economic development but also contributes to ensuring national defense - security and people's lives in the area.
Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee Pham Anh Tuan said that according to the plan, the project progress will be completed in September 2026. However, because runway No. 1 is currently overdue and seriously degraded, the province has researched to push the progress forward by 3 months. Commercial operation is expected in July 2026.
