Northern province seeks PM’s approval to build airport in Sapa

In its proposal to the Government leader, the provincial authority stated that the project can be financed by the State budget and private funds under public-private partnerships through build-operate-transfer contracts.

More than VND3.08 trillion from the central State budget should be allocated to develop the airport, including runways, taxiways and aprons, as well as arterial roads to and from the airport.

Meanwhile, the province will use VND910.6 billion from its own budget to finance bomb and mine clearance, site clearance, and resettlement.

Also, some VND131 billion from the Hanoi-based Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation will be used to develop flight management tasks.

The provincial government will call for the private sector to build a civil aviation zone and a jet fuel depot at a total cost of more than VND1.7 trillion.

The airport will be located in Cam Con Commune of Bao Yen District on some 371 hectares of land, roughly 100 kilometers away from the frontier township of Sapa and will be used for both civilian and military purposes.

The early construction of the airport is deemed necessary and aligned with a number of master plans, according to the local government.

The airport is expected to meet the zoning plan criteria for airports by 2020, with a vision toward 2030, as approved by the prime minister.

In particular, the airport will meet the 4C standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization and Vietnam’s level-two standards for military airports.

The airport will have a capacity of 2.5-3 million passengers annually and will have nine aircraft-parking spaces able to accommodate mid-sized Airbus A320 and A321 planes, or similar aircraft models.

Lao Cai is situated in the economic corridor of Kunming-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong that boasts strong trade links with southwestern China.

The province’s transport system incorporates only roads and railways. Therefore, an airport is expected to play an important role in improving the local transport network and to act as a catalyst for the development of Lao Cai Province, and the northwest mountainous provinces in general.