"Decoding" Gia Binh International Airport Project

Perspective of Gia Binh International Airport.

Roadmap to 5-star standard

Exactly one month after the Prime Minister signed the decision to establish the State Appraisal Council to appraise the investment policy of the Gia Binh International Airport Construction Investment Project (Gia Binh International Airport Project), the appraisal process of the largest aviation infrastructure project in the Northern region has reached its final steps.

Early last week, the Ministry of Finance (Standing Body of the Council) completed the Draft Report on the results of the appraisal of the Project's investment policy to seek opinions from Council members, in order to promptly report to the Government to submit to the National Assembly for decision.

It is known that according to Resolution No. 03/NQ-CP dated August 14, 2025 of the Government, Gia Binh International Airport Project is under the authority of the National Assembly to approve investment policy according to the provisions of the Investment Law.

Meanwhile, the Investment Project for construction of works to ensure flight operations, Resettlement Project, Investment Project for construction of works serving site clearance (Gia Binh International Airport) and Investment Project for construction of road directly connecting Gia Binh International Airport will be implemented under the PPP method.

Resolution No. 03/NQ-CP also allows the Ministry of Public Security to decide on the selection of investors to implement the Gia Binh International Airport Project in the form of selecting investors in special cases according to the provisions of the law on bidding before the National Assembly decides to approve the investment policy.

Previously, on September 11, the State Appraisal Council issued Notice No. 69/TB-HDTĐNN on the Conclusion of the meeting to appraise the investment policy of Gia Binh International Airport Project.

In Notice No. 69, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Vice Chairman of the State Appraisal Council appraising the investment policy of Gia Binh International Airport Project, assessed that the Council members and authorized persons of Council members had contributed very specific and responsible opinions and agreed on the necessity of investing in the Project.

“This project is considered a typical example of implementing the spirit of Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on the policy of mobilizing private capital according to a breakthrough mechanism to develop modern aviation infrastructure. The implementation of the project helps to concretize the Party and State's policies into practical actions, bringing practical effects to socio-economic development, security and national defense,” commented Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc.

In addition, as a national key project, a highlight in the National Airport Master Plan, Gia Binh International Airport is identified as a strategic dual-use airport for the Capital Region, especially the milestone of completing the initial steps of putting into operation and exploitation before the APEC Summit 2027, followed by supporting the passenger reception capacity of Noi Bai International Airport which is facing overload.

It is known that there are 8 contents related to the investment policy of Gia Binh International Airport Project that the State Appraisal Council requested Masterise Group to explain and clarify, in which the most notable are the necessity of implementing the Project, preliminary design plan; exploitation plan...

According to the Project profile, the investor has developed a plan and solutions to meet the goal of building an international airport that meets Skytrax 5-star standards (Skytrax is a British aviation service rating agency) and is among the top 10 most beautiful and friendly airports in the world, starting from the design stage to completion and operation.

Specifically, in phase I (2025-2026), the investor will design and construct towards 5-star standards, inviting Skytrax experts to participate from the detailed design stage, building simulation models to test passenger travel processes.

In Phase II (2027-2028), the investor will implement the ORAT process (airport operation readiness and transfer) and optimize operations, including training staff according to Skytrax standards.

In phase III (2029), the operator will request an official Skytrax assessment in 2029 (4-star rating); phase IV (2030-2032) proposes a 5-star Skytrax rating, expected in mid-2032.

According to the Ministry of Public Security's viewpoint, in terms of strategic orientation, Gia Binh International Airport is identified as a national symbol, a special foreign gateway, demonstrating Vietnam's new position in the international arena; among the top 10 airports in the world that meet 5-star international standards (Skytrax standards).

To achieve this goal, the airport must meet the highest standards of architecture, functionality, aviation security and safety, and international-class service quality. The architectural plan must have its own unique and symbolic aesthetic, integrate distinctive cultural elements, apply modern technology, ensure a sustainable, luxurious, classy structure, and at the same time be suitable for the specific conditions of the Northern region (serving maintenance and repair) and interweave indigenous cultural elements.

"The Ministry of Finance is requested to request the investor to fully explain the preliminary architectural plan, clarify the approach to meet the above principles, the plan to implement the architectural plan competition and the plan to meet the 5-star standard," said a representative of the Ministry of Public Security.

Review investment costs

Another important content that the State Appraisal Council also requested Masterise Group to clarify is the preliminary design plan - Passenger Terminal, the item considered the "heart" of Gia Binh International Airport.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the passenger terminal area of Gia Binh International Airport is calculated based on McKinsey consultancy's capacity forecast data for the investment phases of 30 million passengers/year until 2030 and 50 million passengers/year until 2050; specifically, the phase until 2030 is 350,000 m2 and the phase until 2050 is 460,000 m2.

However, the Gia Binh International Airport Project dossier of Masterise Group does not have specific calculations corresponding to the above area.

Meanwhile, referring to the scale of some airports, in which Long Thanh International Airport has a passenger terminal area of about 373,000 m2 (capacity of 25 million passengers/year); Terminal T3 of Shenzhen Baoan International Airport (China) has an area of about 450,000 m2 (capacity of 22 million passengers/year)...

Therefore, the Ministry of Construction requests that investors direct consultants to review and calculate the passenger terminal area based on demand, peak hour passenger traffic, number of employees, and area standards to ensure convenience, modernity, and meet the investment goals of the Project.

“The station project has a complex structure, so in the next implementation step, we recommend that investors and related units update and supplement full data on topography, geology, hydrology, and conduct specific calculations to select appropriate structural solutions, ensuring economic and technical stability, long-term project stability, and convenience during construction; and check and review copyrighted structural calculation software to comply with current standards,” said Mr. Bui Xuan Dung, Deputy Minister of Construction.

It is known that in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report, the investor proposed to choose the form of architectural competition as "limited competition", and at the same time assigned the investor as the competition organizer.

Regarding this content, the Ministry of Construction assesses that it is basically consistent with the provisions of the Law on Architecture (Clause 2 and Clause 4, Article 17) and Decree No. 85/2020/ND-CP, dated July 17, 2020 of the Government stipulating a number of articles of the Law on Architecture (Article 16).

“During the implementation process, the person with the authority to decide on investment is responsible for organizing the competition for architectural plans for civil aviation terminals to ensure compliance with current legal regulations,” the Ministry of Construction noted.

Construction investment costs of main construction items, assessed by the specialized state management agency of construction, are the explanatory content determining cost items in the preliminary total investment in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP dated February 9, 2021 of the Government.

Specifically, the construction investment cost of the Project determined by the investor for both phases is 94,635 billion VND; equipment cost is 30,880 billion VND; compensation and site clearance cost is 29,511 billion VND; project management cost, construction investment consultancy and other costs is 5,020 billion VND; contingency cost is 24,385.3 billion VND; loan interest is 10,691.1 billion VND.

However, regarding the contingency cost, the Ministry of Construction said that the investor has not taken into account the forecast index of cost factor fluctuations as prescribed. In addition, in phase II of the Project (2028-2041), the price slippage rate is only determined at a rate of 1.8%.

"Therefore, investors and consultants are requested to review the level of price slippage to ensure it accurately reflects the market amplitude as a basis for calculating and determining appropriate contingency costs," the representative of the Ministry of Construction noted.

Scale of Gia Binh International Airport Construction Investment Project

Airport level: 4E (according to the standard code of the International Civil Aviation Organization - ICAO).

Regarding capacity: Phase I (from 2025-2030) 30 million passengers/year and 1.6 million tons of cargo/year; Phase II (from 2031-2050) 50 million passengers/year and 2.5 million tons of cargo/year.

Regarding land area: about 1,884.88 hectares, including: land used for civil aviation works about 957.65 hectares, land used for shared airport works about 927.23 hectares and not including security land managed by the Ministry of Public Security.

Regarding main construction items:

Runway: 4 runways measuring 3,500 x 45 m, each side is 7.5 m wide, of which 2 runways will be built

in phase I, along with the taxiway system (23 m wide).

Parking: Phase I has 65 parking positions (including parking positions in front of the VIP terminal), 16 parking positions in front of the cargo terminal; Phase II increases to 99 parking positions, 24 parking positions in front of the cargo terminal.

Passenger terminal: Phase I will build a passenger terminal with an area of about 350,000 m2 of floor space, a VIP terminal with an area of about 5,900 m2 of floor space; Phase II will expand the passenger terminal by about 110,000 m2 of floor space.

Cargo terminal: implemented according to planning scale, specifically: phase I will build about 110,000 m2 of floor; phase 2 will expand by about 150,000 m2 of floor.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/giai-ma-du-an-cang-hang-khong-quoc-te-gia-binh-d389770.html