6 provinces apply to build airports
In 2021-2022, the provinces in the Northern mountainous region requesting investment policies to build airports include: Lao Cai, Son La, Lai Chau, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang. Of which, the Northwest region alone (including 6 provinces), if approved, will have 4 airports.
According to the investigation of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, on October 21, 2021, the Prime Minister decided to approve the investment policy of the Sa Pa airport construction project under the PPP (public-private partnership) form.
The project is divided into 2 investment phases, with the goal of reaching a capacity of 3 million passengers/year. Sa Pa Airport has a land use area of 371 hectares with a total investment capital of nearly 7,000 billion VND.
In Son La province in 2022, the locality proposed to build Na San airport. In the same year, Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee also requested to build Lai Chau airport. Another province in the region, Yen Bai, also requested the superiors to consider adding Yen Bai airport to the master plan for the development of the national airport system in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.
Also in 2022, the People's Committees of Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang provinces proposed adding Tan Quang Airport (Tan Quang Commune, Bac Quang District, Ha Giang Province) and Na Hang Airport in Nang Kha Commune, Na Hang District to the planning. The proposals of the two localities were later not approved.
Dismal progress
In the Northwest, only Dien Bien airport has been successfully upgraded, but to achieve success, this locality also "struggled" for many years.
The Dien Bien airport upgrade investment project is a group B project, a level I traffic project, with a total investment of more than 1,467 billion VND from the capital of Vietnam Airports Corporation. The upgrade was completed in December 2023, after 4 months, the number of passengers arriving/departing from Dien Bien reached nearly 70,000 with a total of more than 900 flights.
However, after the 70th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory, Dien Bien Airport now only maintains 9 flights/week, including 7 flights of Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi and 2 flights of Vietjet Air to Ho Chi Minh City.
It can be seen that at present, the number of take-offs and landings of flights in a week is only equal to 1 day during the 70th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory. This shows the instability, making it difficult to achieve the expected results.
At Sa Pa airport, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy - Director of Lao Cai Province Department of Transport - said that up to now, the construction has not been able to be implemented because they are still looking for partners despite having gone through two bidding invitations. The reason is that businesses see that the investment is large and it is difficult to make a profit, so they do not do it.
Currently, the Department of Transport of Lao Cai province is still coordinating with relevant parties to adjust the policy to attract investors and then invite bids for the third time.
"It is impossible to start construction in 2024 and complete it by the middle of next year. We are striving to attract investors so that we can start the project in early 2025," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy.
In the context of Vietnam's aviation industry in recent years, most of it has been loss-making, large airports such as Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai are considered rare bright spots, "carrying the burden" for the remaining airports. The construction of additional small airports has made many people express doubts about its effectiveness.
On the other hand, the proposed airport construction locations in the northern mountainous provinces are not very feasible due to complex terrain, rugged mountains, unfavorable airspace and flight methods. This partly explains why only a few projects have been approved by the Central Government.
In 2022, up to 6 mountainous provinces applied to build airports, but only Lao Cai was approved with the Sa Pa airport project, Dien Bien airport was successfully upgraded but the effectiveness is still unknown. The rest were rejected or need further research.
