In the adjusted airport planning by 2030 recently approved by Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, Con Dao Airport will have a capacity of 2 million passengers and 4,400 tons of cargo per year and be able to handle Code-C or equivalent aircraft.

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Con Dao Airport to be expanded to serve 2 mln passengers per year (Photo for illustration)

A new passenger terminal is expected to be built to the southeast of the existing facility. An area to the west of the passenger terminal has also been zoned for constructing a cargo terminal.

The zoned land area covers more than 181ha, including over 104ha of the existing airport and 77ha of additional land. That consists of about 52.5ha for civil aviation, 9.3ha for military aviation, and 119ha for joint use.

The Ministry of Transport said the growth of passenger traffic at Con Dao Airport has outpaced the prediction in the old planning, and the current throughput has exceeded the existing terminal’s capacity.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, this airport still served 447,750 passengers in 2020, up 4.1 percent from 2019.

It was designed to handle ATR-72 and equivalent planes. However, carriers are set to gradually replace ATR-72, as well as A320 and A321, with new-generation jets like A319neo, A320neo, A321neo, and equivalent aircraft.

Given this, airport upgrade and expansion are necessary, the ministry noted.

Source: VNA