Phu Quoc airport to be upgraded and expanded soon

(NLDO)- APEC 2027 will be held in Phu Quoc ( Kien Giang ), the number of tourists to the "pearl island" is increasing rapidly while Phu Quoc airport infrastructure is overloaded.

Airport overload

During the recent Tet holiday, Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) tourism enjoyed a huge success with a surge in the number of visitors, including an increase of more than 30% in international visitors compared to the same period last year. Mr. Nguyen Minh Dong, Director of Phu Quoc International Airport, said: During the Lunar New Year holiday, Phu Quoc airport welcomed an average of 130-140 landings per day, with 20,000-22,000 visitors per day, including 8,000-10,000 domestic visitors and 10,000-12,000 international visitors.

Phu Quoc Airport is crowded with passengers on the occasion of Tet At Ty 2025. Photo: Contributor

According to records, during the peak of Tet holiday, there were continuous cases of passengers standing crowded in the check-in hall at the airport. At many times, there was congestion, especially at the immigration area, causing tourists to complain that they had to wait for hours to complete procedures.

Colonel Bui The Duong, Chief of Phu Quoc International Port Police, said that each exit and entry terminal has 7 manual control counters and 2 automatic control counters that operate 24/7. Currently, 70%-80% of the unit's officers and soldiers are on duty during Tet. "We strive to ensure the earliest clearance of passengers and to resolve all passenger requests. However, the terminal is currently operating beyond its design capacity. As the number of passengers continues to increase, space and coordination need to be further improved. With the existing terminal, it is inevitable that there will be local congestion, which may cause inconvenience to passengers. We hope that the Party, the State, the Government as well as ministries and branches will soon coordinate to build a separate international terminal to serve the needs of passengers coming to the island and the country's development needs," Colonel Duong hoped.

Director Nguyen Minh Dong said Phu Quoc International Airport has a designed capacity of 4 million passengers/year (3 million domestic passengers and 1 million international passengers). However, in 2024, the airport served more than 4.1 million passengers, including nearly 2 million international passengers, exceeding its designed capacity.

According to Chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee Tran Minh Khoa, Phu Quoc has now become a very unique and attractive coastal city for domestic and foreign tourists. Currently, Phu Quoc International Airport has been fully exploited. Because the terminal area has reached its limit, it is overloaded, and there are no more counters or gates for check-in procedures, so passengers have to wait for a relatively long time.

Seize great opportunities in time

By 2025, Phu Quoc aims to welcome more than 10 million tourists, including 1.1 million international visitors. In addition to the natural advantages, Phu Quoc is currently the only destination in Vietnam with a special visa exemption policy for foreigners and Vietnamese people holding foreign passports, with a temporary stay of up to 30 days. It is forecasted that the number of international visitors to Phu Quoc will continue to increase strongly in the coming time.

In particular, Phu Quoc is facing the opportunity to grow even stronger when it was chosen as the venue for the APEC 2027 Summit Week. The event is expected to bring huge impacts on politics, economy, society and tourism, not only an opportunity for Phu Quoc to promote its image but also a driving force to promote comprehensive development.

"To prepare for this big event, Phu Quoc really hopes the Government will direct the early expansion of the airport, including a proposal to invest in building a second runway" - Chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee Tran Minh Khoa hoped.

Previously, in preparation for the APEC 2017 Summit Week taking place in November 2017 in Da Nang, the International Passenger Terminal - Da Nang International Airport was built with 40 check-in counters, 20 departure counters, 22 arrival counters, 10 boarding gates, two departure baggage handling islands and four arrival baggage return islands... with a capacity of 6 million passengers/year, serving 1,600 passengers/peak hour.

In particular, building a VIP Guest House with full functional rooms: National ceremonial room, for guests, immigration, reception and circulation hall... creating the first "facade" to approach delegations of heads of state, high-ranking officials, and delegates in the APEC 2017 event. The ground department meets the increased APEC service capacity to 180 flights/day.

In addition, the capacity of aircraft parking lots will be improved with the project of renovating, upgrading, expanding aircraft parking lots, building new taxiways... combining air force parking lots and establishing temporary parking positions on taxiways to meet the plan of operating 70-75 parking positions. Meeting the requirements of serving APEC with plans of 12 parking positions for code E aircraft, 11 parking positions for code D aircraft, 13 parking positions for code C aircraft and 13 parking positions for commercial flights...

Director Nguyen Minh Dong said that the planning scheme for Phu Quoc International Airport for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, has been proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to the Ministry of Transport for consideration, appraisal and approval procedures. Accordingly, by 2030, the capacity will reach 10 million passengers/year and 25,000 tons of cargo/year. By 2050, the capacity will be 18 million passengers/year and 50,000 tons of cargo/year.

According to a report by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the enterprise that manages and operates Phu Quoc airport, to increase the total capacity to 10 million passengers/year, Phu Quoc airport needs to expand the runway system, parking lot, and build passenger terminal T2. In fact, the proposal to upgrade and expand Phu Quoc airport has been mentioned since 2022 - 2023, but ACV has not yet started the project. Recently, a private group has proposed to participate in upgrading and expanding this airport.

Facilitate investors

Van Don Airport (Quang Ninh) was invested and successfully operated by the private sector, a typical example of mobilizing social resources to invest in developing local infrastructure. Many new airport investment projects or upgrading and expanding existing airports are now shifting to the PPP form, such as investing in Sa Pa Airport, Quang Tri Airport, expanding Con Dao Airport... Many localities want to see socialized investment, because the largest airport enterprise, ACV, is struggling to implement many key projects such as Long Thanh, T2 Noi Bai, T3 Tan Son Nhat..., and it is difficult to balance enough capital for other projects.

Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Uong Viet Dung said the Government has a policy of expanding investment to prepare for the APEC 2027 Conference. Based on the master plan for the national airport system approved by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Transport has assigned the Authority to urgently complete the dossier to adjust the planning of Phu Quoc International Airport.

According to Mr. Dung, regarding the investment plan, the most optimal plan will be considered and calculated, mobilizing all resources to invest in Phu Quoc airport infrastructure as quickly as possible, including using state capital and mobilizing other capital sources from investors. However, regardless of the plan, investors must invest in all essential works such as runway 2 and passenger terminal T2.

It is important to complete the synchronous planning of airports according to the planning of the national airport system approved by the Prime Minister, if the locality assesses the need and identifies strategic investors, it is completely possible to implement. The Director believes that the biggest key is still the effectiveness of the investment problem. With effective airport projects, financially feasible, they will certainly attract potential investors. State management agencies are always ready to coordinate, guide investment procedures, and create the most favorable conditions for project implementation.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/som-nang-cap-mo-rong-san-bay-phu-quoc-196250210091715584.htm