The state-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) has been appointed as the developer of a third passenger terminal worth roughly VND11 trillion (US$473 million) at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

In-principle approval was given to the project to build the T3 terminal at the southern airdrome on Tuesday, according to a prime minister decision issued on the same day.

The new terminal, which is expected to handle 20 million passengers per year and meet international criteria, will help ease the burden on the current domestic terminal and enhance passenger service quality.

The project will also expand the current apron and develop auxiliary facilities, such as technical infrastructure, drainage and wastewater treatment systems, and roads inside the airport.

The construction of the terminal will be financed by ACV’s own funding rather than capital allocated from the state budget. It is expected to take three years and one month to complete the project.

The prime minister asked the administration of Ho Chi Minh City to take charge of land handover for the project.

Meanwhile, the transport and national defense ministries and the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises were told to provide support for the ACV to execute the project.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport was predicted to serve more than 45 million passengers by 2025, a forecast made before the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic throttled international air travel.

The total capacity of Tan Son Nhat’s domestic and international passenger terminals has reached around 28 million passengers per year.

The Vietnamese government owns a 95.39 percent stake in the ACV while the remainder is held by local and foreign investors.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based ACV operates under a parent company-subsidiary model, managing 22 airports across the Southeast Asian nation, nine of which are international airports, including Noi Bai, Da Nang, Tan Son Nhat, and Can Tho.

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