The pedigree of Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport is well established and intrinsically linked with Vietnam’s rich and often-turbulent cultural history. Gemma Price takes a tour around the multimillion-dollar facility
The landscaped gardens, light airy spaces and up-to-the-minute technology of the new Tan Son Nhat (TSN) International Terminal, located in Vietnam’s southern industrial centre Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), are a far cry from its predecessors.
Two years ago, visitors flying into the country’s largest airport would disembark from one of four passenger-boarding bridges into a low-slung basic building with the distinct impression of having been transported back to the 1970s. Now, that building has been demoted to serving domestic flights only, and Vietnam’s busiest aviation hub was revamped to open a new chapter in its fast-moving economic development.Following three years of construction and US$260 million of investment capital, TSN’s current international terminal was inaugurated in September 2007. Smooth granite flooring, a cavernous departure hall illuminated by lofty skylights, row after row of gleaming check-in counters and a plethora of plasma-screen televisions place TSN on an aesthetic par with its regional peers, although the airport’s 15 to 17 million annual passenger-capacity ranks the airport as one of Asia’s smaller international gateways. But this wasn’t always the case.
FROM RAGS TO RICHES
TSN might be a late bloomer in following the recent globalisation trend, but the airport’s pedigree is well established and intrinsically linked with Vietnam’s rich and often turbulent cultural history. The airport itself dates from the 1930s, when the French colonial government constructed a tiny unpaved airstrip in Tan Son Nhat village, 7km north of Saigon’s broad, leafy central boulevards.
The very first arrival was a flight from Paris to Saigon, and the low-key buildings and red dirt runway remained a key transport link for the French colonialss until their defeat and subsequent departure following the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Twenty years after its inception, Ton Son Nhat’s ramshackle airfield was enlarged and upgraded courtesy of US foreign aid, and by mid-1956, a shiny 2,190m-long slick of new tarmac was complete.
As conflict in Vietnam escalated, the airport became an important facility for both the US and the South Vietnamese Air Force, and one of the busiest airbases worldwide until the Communist victory in 1975 when the airport was closed.
On December 9, 2004, United Airlines became the first US airline to fly to Vietnam since Pan Am’s last flight during the Fall of Saigon. Now, 40 airlines operate a total average of 260 flights per day (although this figure is expected to climb to 400 per day in the very near future).
In recent years, Vietnam has emerged as one of the world’s hottest destinations with a corresponding boom in business and leisure traveller numbers, thanks to government initiatives to stimulate trade and commerce, the country’s accession to the Asean grouping in 1995 and to the World Trade Organization in January 2007. Tourism campaigns to promote its natural tourism gems benefit the country as well.
In response to the need for expansion, the Vietnamese government approved plans to build a new facility adjacent to the old structure in 2004, and the timing of the development could not have been better. Prior to the opening of the new terminal in 2007, the airport had a maximum annual capacity of nine million passengers, and was operating almost at full tilt in 2006 with a total of 8.5 million passengers passing through its doors.
FACTS IN NUMBERS
Funded by Japanese Official Development Assistance loan, the new terminal was constructed by KTOM, a consortium of four Japanese contractors (Kajima Corporation, Taisei Corporation, Obayashi Corporation and Maeda Corporation). But it is 100 percent state-owned. Covering 92,920sqm, the four-storey terminal is equipped to handle around 15 million international passengers per annum, or 600 flights per day, with eight passenger boarding bridges able to house large aircraft such as Boeing B747-400, B767, B777-200/300 and Airbus A340-300/500/600.
Arrival and departure halls are separated over two floors, with ground floor arrivals incorporating 40 passport control counters, a pick-up point for prearranged visas-on-arrival, and six carousels capable of handling 3,000 pieces of luggage per hour. Upstairs in the airy departure hall, 80 check-in counters fitted with the Common Use Terminal Equipment system can complete check-in formalities for 1,770 passengers per hour, and clocks an average time of two to three minutes for each.
Eighteen escalators, 20 elevators and eight moving walkways ensure passengers can get to their boarding gate in a timely manner with the minimum of fuss, and a total of 20 boarding gates mean that 20 flights can be served simultaneously.
The terminal also uses the latest in IT systems – ARINC Inc, the information technology subcontractor for products and services, installed state-of-the-art passenger technology, including its iMUSE for efficient check in and boarding, AirVUE for real-time passenger flight information displayed throughout the terminal, BagLink for baggage messaging, and AirDB for operations and revenue management.
LEISURE PURSUITS
Hungry passengers hopping out of cabs expecting to swing by McDonald’s, Starbucks, or any other multinational F&B outlet on the go might be disappointed. None of the big players have a presence in Vietnam, so you won’t find any of the usual concessions at the airport. The third floor is home to a small selection of Western and Asian restaurants (at Western prices), as well as airline offices, waiting lounges for delayed passengers, travel agents, duty free shops and secluded massage facilities.
Business and First Class passengers are well catered for across six fully furnished lounges, all of which offer body massage, foot massage, showers, shoe shine and business and conference facilities, made available to economy travellers for a fee of US$30. With prior notice, TIAGS (Tan Son Nhat International Airport Ground Services) also provides a reception, fast track customs and luggage and onwards transportation service for VIP guests.
As you’d expect for its size, TSN doesn’t offer the same range of shopping outlets as other regional airports, but does boast Vietnam’s most extensive assortment of duty-free goodies.
Southern Airports Services Company, a state-owned company and subsidiary of Southern Airports Authority, operates 23 retail outlets and three depots stocking over 120 brands.
Those looking for fragrance by Calvin Klein, Clarins cosmetics or a Fossil watch are in luck, as are fans of Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Delsey, Lacoste, and Kipling fashion and accessories. Within Vietnam, Coach, Chanel, LeSportsac and Dior merchandise are available exclusively at TSN International terminal, and the airport is also home to Swarovski’s biggest Southeast Asian boutique. Plus, you can also pick up a bevy of electronic goods, confectionary, tobacco products, wine and spirits.
IN THE DETAILS
Environmentally friendly landscaping concepts also feature heavily throughout the new terminal. A series of skylights has been incorporated into the design to enhance aesthetics and aid energy efficiency by maximising the use of natural light, and selective arrangements of plants, trees and ponds provide pleasant green oases throughout the complex.
In front, a vast reservoir acts as a natural convection barrier to keep the car park and main entrance cool in the hot dry season, and during the rainy season will act as a retention pond to be used for watering, thereby conserving water.
Designed in the shape of the Indochinese peninsula, the pool represents Vietnam’s integration and standing in Southeast Asia, and the country’s firm and prosperous friendship with its neighbours.
THE FUTURE
The new terminal has been up and running for almost 19 months, but is only one stage of the planned development. International passengers increased from 8.5 million in 2006 to 11 million in 2007, then to 13 million in 2008, and as the same 8.6 percent year-on-year growth is projected for 2009 onwards the new international will soon be running at maximum capacity.
In 2010, two more passenger-boarding bridges will be installed, bringing the total to 10. And waiting lounges will be expanded, increasing the size of the airport by 10,000sqm.
However, due to the airport’s location in a residential area of heavily populated HCMC, further expansion will be impossible and safety concerns would make it hard to upgrade to meet increasing demand. With this in mind, the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has already approved the development of a new airport to replace TSN for international departures in the future. Located in Long Thanh, Dong Nai province, about 50km northeast of HCMC, the 50sqkm site will incorporate four runways each measuring 4,000m long and 60m wide and capable of receiving the A380 jumbo jet.
Stage one of the Long Thanh project includes the construction of two parallel runways and a terminal with a capacity of 20 million passengers per year, due to be completed in 2010. The second stage, scheduled for completion in 2015, will leave the airport with three passenger terminals with a capacity for 80 to 100 million passengers a year, and a cargo terminal designed to receive five million metric tons of cargo annually. The total invested capital of this project is an estimated US$8 billion and Long Thanh International Airport is expected to be the leading airport on the Indochina peninsula, and one of the busiest air transportation hubs in Southeast Asia.
In just 40 years, Vietnam’s main airport will have come full cycle to emerge once again as one of the most advanced and important transport hubs in the region.
