Dong Nai (VNA) – Leaders of the Republic ofKorea’s (RoK) Inha University showed interest in taking part in theconsultation, design and planning of Long Thanh Airport in the southernprovince of Dong Nai during a working session with provincial leaders onJanuary 9.

Inha University leaders held that the model of Long Thanhairport is quite similar to that of Incheon Airport in the RoK, which isoperating effectively.

Along with growth in passenger number and goods volume,services and urban areas surrounding the airport are also contributing greatlyto Incheon’s income, they noted.

They advised that Long Thanh airport should be developedunder an airport city model, underlining the need for transportationconnectivity between Ho Chi Minh City and the airport.

They also proposed a number of measures to effectivelyexploit the airport and the building of a city surrounding the airport.

At the session, Tran Van Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Dong NaiPeople’s Committee said that the Long Thanh International Airport is amongmajor projects of Vietnam.

Covering a total area of 5,000 hectares, the airport isexpected to serve 100 million passengers and handle five million tonnes of goodseach year. It will have four runways and four terminals with a total estimatedinvestment of about 16 billion USD.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completedby 2025, with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 tonnes ofgoods.

Vinh also revealed that Dong Nai plans to zone off 21,000hectares surrounding the airport for developing services, urban areas,logistics, industrial parks, entertainment areas and themed parks.

He also asked Inha University to continue supporting DongNai in studying Incheon airport model as well as the airport city model, and helpthe province in training personnel serving the project./.