Vietnam Airports Corporation has started a new effort to find a contractor to build a 373,000-square-meter passenger terminal for the Long Thanh Airport project. The company called for bids for the $1.5 billion construction plan in September 2022, but only a consortium of Vietnamese companies bid, failing to meet ACV's requirements.

The project involved the design and construction of the terminal building and the installation of its equipment. The new tender will be open until March 28, with hopes to determine a winner in May. The ACV will hold a pre-bid meeting next week to survey the views of interested bidders. ACV deputy general manager Do Tat Binh said bidders must have "the competence, experience and financial capacity required for such a large and important project.

He added that only foreign contractors would be eligible for the project due to strict bidding conditions. The tight timeline for the project is thought to have prevented foreign companies from participating in previous bids, but Binh said higher authorities may consider extending the deadline. The National Assembly and the government are currently demanding that the first phase of the project be completed by the end of 2025, with a construction time of just 33 months.

The terminal is the largest aviation project in Vietnam's history. It took ACV two years to finalize the architectural proposal and one year to evaluate and approve the project. Long Thanh is located in Dong Nai Province, about 40 kilometers east of Ho Chi Minh City. ACV has raised about $6.1 billion to implement the plan, although the projected construction cost of the first phase is $4.1 billion. The entire project, which will cost US$16 billion, will be divided into three phases. The first will include runways and a passenger terminal capable of handling 25 million passengers a year. In the second phase, a second runway and another terminal will be added, serving 50 million passengers a year. Phase three will complete and expand the facility, allowing the airport to serve 100 million passengers per year.

In addition to the airport itself, there will also be a 38-kilometer light rail link to Thu Thiem, east of Ho Chi Minh City, and a rail link to the future North-South Express Line. Work on the runway began in December, nearly two years after the project's groundbreaking ceremony. Earlier, the country's prime minister called for the work to be expedited.Editor/XingWentao