Vietnam to upgrade Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat Airport
Vietnam’s government has released a blueprint showing planned enhancements to Ho Chi Minh City’s airport. The revamp of Tan Son Nhat Airport will add two new passenger terminals and see runways and taxiways improved.
The two new terminal buildings will each have a capacity of handling 10 million passengers annually which will increase total capability to 45 million a year. The surface of the northern runway will get a makeover while taxiways alongside and between the two runways will be laid.
The upgrades will be carried out over three years and the estimated cost is US$860 million. Trinh Dinh Dung, the country’s deputy-prime-minister, gave the airport upgrade the green light. He noted that improving access roads was the responsibility of Ho Chi Minh’s council and it needed to allocate a budget for this.
The current annual capacity at Tan Son Nhat is 25 million. Over the last few years the number of passengers using it has exceeded this. The airport is the principle gateway to South Vietnam. 12GO ASIA offers flight reservations to Ho Chi Minh from Hanoi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Travelling in the State Railway of Thailand’s recently introduced VIP train carriages is going to cost more next week. The SRT’s deputy-governor, Thanongsak Pongprasert, said fares for travel in the state-of-the-art carriages would rise by up to 20 per cent effective on Monday 21 August.
The commander of Thailand’s Immigration Bureau says retired foreign nationals can now apply for 10-year visas. Natthathorn Prohsunthorn told media resources earlier this week retirees could now apply for the new visas-visa extensions at in-country immigration offices.
Last week saw the inauguration of a new flight route connecting central Vietnam and the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. Vietnamese budget carrier Jetstar Pacific launched a twice weekly service last Friday which links the nation’s Quang Binh Province to the Rose of Thailand’s North.
