Hanoi (VNA) – The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) plans tostart work on the first detail of the Long Thanh International Airport projectin the southern province of Dong Nai on January 5.

Specifically, the ACV, the investor of the third componentproject of Long Thanh airport’s first stage, will begin the construction of theproject with bomb and mine clearance in Long Thanh district.

The corporation said earlier that it would invest nearly 100trillion VND (4.3 billion USD) in the third component project.

Of the total capital, more than 36.1 trillion VND will besourced from ACV and the remainder from loans and other legitimate sources.

The airport will be built in three phases over three decades, and is expectedto become the country’s largest airport.

In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m,taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary workssprawling 373,000 sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2million tonnes of cargo each year.

The airport is expected to have four runways, four passengerterminals, and other auxiliary works to ensure a capacity of 100 millionpassengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo a year by 2040.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580ha, the airport willstraddle six communes in Long Thanh district. It is expected to cost 336.63trillion VND, with the first phase needing over 109 trillion VND.

Around 4,800 households and 26 organisations are expected tobe relocated to make way for it.

Located 40km to the east of Ho Chi Minh City, the Long Thanhairport is expected to relieve overloading at Tan Son Nhat internationalairport in the city, now the country’s largest airport./.