Under Decision No.236/QĐ-TTg signed on February 23, Vietnam will put 23 airports into operation by 2020, of which Noi Bai, Danang, Tan Son Nhat and Cam Ranh will act as international gateways.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport is the most important transportation hub in the South
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The aviation industry will exploit 23 airports with an annual traffic of 144 million passengers by 2020 and 28 airports with an annual traffic of 308 million passengers by 2030.
Under the plan, the number of aircraft will grow by more than 220 units by 2020 and 400 units by 2030, increasing by 70-100 units compared to the previous plan.
There are currently four licensed airlines -- Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Vietjet and Vietnam Air Services Company. To open opportunities for new investors to enter the aviation market, there’s a need to increase the capacity of airports and expand the scale of aircraft fleet in the next three years.
According to Decree 118/2015/NĐ-CP issued by the Government in 2015 on detailed regulations and guiding the implementation of a number of articles on the Law on Investment, one of the requirements to receive investment certification is that the project must be suitable with the aviation industry’s development plan.
That is why many airlines, such as Vietstar Air and Bamboo Airlines, have failed to get licenses although they have met the demand on capital and flying capacity.
The ministry predicts that the transport of passengers via domestic airlines will increase at an average rate of 16 percent annually from now until 2020 and by 8 percent during 2020-2030. Meanwhile, the transport of goods is expected to grow at an annual rate of 18 percent from now until 2020 and at 12 percent annually during 2020-2030.
The domestic airlines are expected to reach a volume of 64 million passengers every year by 2020 and 131 million annually by 2030.
This growth rate is 2-4 percent higher than the current plan and is also higher than the average growth of the global aviation industry.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong said the revised plan was updated on the basis of the scientific objections raised by the Science and Aviation Technology Association and Aircraft Design and Consultancy Company Ltd at the request of Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.
A revision in the plan is needed, creating a legal framework to continuously develop aviation transportation in future and ensuring sustainability and safety, Dung said.
The current plan was approved by the Prime Minister in 2009. After many years of implementation, the scale of aviation market has progressed, but it still ranks the fifth in ASEAN. It has not yet attracted giant airlines to open direct routes to Vietnam, and its infrastructure in a number of airports fail to meet the increasing demand, resulting in overcrowding.
