A consultancy hired to prepare the feasibility study for a proposed airport by the administration of a northern Vietnamese province has copied a similar report to make its own, but forgot to change some statistical data before submitting it to the Ministry of Construction.

Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy chairman of Quang Ninh Province, admitted to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that many mistakes have been found in the feasibility study report of the Quang Ninh airport project, as pointed out by the construction ministry over the weekend.

The feasibility study for the Quang Ninh airport was completed by Airport Design and Construction Consultancy Co. Ltd. in January.

The company was found to prepare the report by altering the document written for the Phan Thiet airport in the south-central province of Binh Thuan, and “some data have not been properly adjusted,” said Bui Trung Dung, head of the department that oversees construction activities under the ministry.

The construction ministry also detected that the data used in doing the installation of the ventilation system of the airport is based on the weather features of Hanoi, instead of Quang Ninh.

“This has led to mistakes in applying the corresponding technical standards,” the ministry said.

The Quang Ninh administration announced in mid-March they had approved the feasibility study for the VND7.5 trillion (US$349.52 million) Quang Ninh airport, to be built at the Van Don Economic Zone.

The 288.38-hectare airport will be able to serve two million passengers a year, with construction expected to be completed in two years.

The project had been slated for groundbreaking on March 27, but the provincial administration said on March 29 that the plan was delayed “to a suitable time” as bad weather had hindered construction.

A group of investors, including Joinus Vietnam Co. Ltd., Posco E&C, and Korea Airports Corporation, had shown interest in developing the project, but they withdrew their bid late last month, according to the Quang Ninh administration.

The investors had expected the proposed Quang Ninh airport to be able to serve international flights, but the facility is only allowed to operate as “a domestic airport capable of receiving international flights.”

Following the withdrawal of the three-firm consortium, Quang Ninh chose Vietnamese realty firm Sun Group as the investor, as it was the only one that showed interest in the project.

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