On December 24, 2022, Airports Corporation of Vietnam kicked off the construction of Passenger Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat International Airport. 

Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh city Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, Chairman of the city People's Committee Phan Van Mai, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, Chairman of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) Nguyen Hoang Anh, and leaders of ministries, departments, and HCMC's authorities were in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Tan Son Nhat international airport is one of three largest air gateways in Vietnam, playing a crucial role in the civil airports system and national defense. With the role of an aviation hub, the airport has actively contributed to the socio-economic development of the southern economic region in particular and the whole country in general. 

At moment, Tan Son Nhat is being deployed an international and a domestic terminal. After several renovations and expansions, the annual passenger capacity of the domestic terminal is 15 million. The actual number of passengers, however, exceeds 26 million, which is 1.7 times the designed capacity. This causes extreme congestion within the terminal and on access routes, frustrating passengers and residents near the airport, and negatively impacting the socioeconomic development and tourism of Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding provinces. With a recent average growth rate of 14.5% per year, it is expected that by 2024 the domestic terminal will be more than twice as overcrowded. For this reason, the inauguration of a new domestic passenger terminal at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the coming year is of the utmost importance to alleviate the aviation industry's growing strain.

The T3 Terminal project has 3 main works, including a passenger terminal, a multistory car parking lot with non-aviation services, and a viaduct system that leads to the terminal with a total capital of VND10,990 billion (US$466 million). The capital to implement the project is mobilized from the owner's equity of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (accounting for 70%) and commercial loans (accounting for 30%).

Perspective of T3 Terminal, Tan Son Nhat International Airport

The terminal covering a total floor area of around 112,500 square meters has four floors and one basement, 90 counters, 20 automated bags drop counters and 42 check-in kiosks, 27 doorways leading to aircrafts, 16 baggage storages, and 25 airport security gates. The private VIP terminal facility includes eight airport security gates and a business-class lounge.

Perspective of T3 Terminal, Tan Son Nhat International Airport

The architecture of the terminal, which was inspired by the traditional Ao Dai, is as delicate and youthful as the vibrancy of a city striving to flourish. The multi-story car parking lot with a total floor area of 130,000 square meters includes four floors, two basements and a three-story parking area for motorbikes.

Perspective of T3 Terminal, Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Terminal 3 is designed with a capacity of serving 20 million passengers per year and 7,000 passengers during peak time. The facility can serve Code C and Code E aircrafts which have dimensions meeting the specifications in the Aerodrome Reference Code table. The project is expected to meet the increasing travel needs of people and solve traffic congestion at Tan Son Nhat airport. The project is expected to be completed and put into demo operations by the end of 2024. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, speaking at the event, acknowledged and praised the MoT, MoD, CMSC, ACV, and HCM authorities for actively coordinating, resolving numerous obstacles and constraints, particularly the most difficult aspects of land clearance, and completing the required procedures to kick off this important project.

The Prime Minister appreciated relevant units’ effort in the groundbreaking of T3 in December

The Prime Minister emphasized that the development of synchronous infrastructure investment including transportation sector is considered as one of three crucial strategies of the government to promote sustainable economic growth.

PM Pham Minh Chinh also stated that the groundbreaking ceremony was an initial step. To complete the project, relevant units will face many challenges and difficulties during the construction process. Therefore, the Prime Minister asked MoT and CMSC for a role of construction project supervision to ensure the quality as well as the progress to put into operation on schedule.

ACV Chairman Lai Xuan Thanh reported to the Prime Minister that T3, Tan Son Nhat international airport is a significant project. As the investor, ACV is honored to contribute to implement political mission as well as commit to complete the project on time and put it into operation with the quality standardized by ICAO.

Airports Corporation of Vietnam