The firm, which manages 22 of the country’s international and domestic airports, said it will prioritise investments for terminals showing high passenger growth and special socioeconomic importance.

The important airports are Noi Bai in the north, Dong Hoi, Phu Bai and Cam Ranh in the centre, and Tan Son Nhat, Con Dao and Phu Quoc in the south.

ACV also asked the ministry to consider adjusting the framework for some aviation service rates, which apply to domestic flight routes at airports, according to enternews.vn.

It said that while passengers travelling on domestic routes represent two-thirds of all aviation passengers in Vietnam, the prices of landing and take-off services on domestic routes are about 2.5 times lower than those of similar services on international routes.

The firm suggested that the price gap should be narrowed within five years to ensure the efficiency of investments and asset exploitation.

Industry insiders said if the suggestion is accepted, the fares for domestic flights are likely to increase in the future.

Parties have reportedly made significant progress for the ACV to get closer to an agreement with French group Aeroports de Paris (ADP), which is a potential strategic investor of the ACV.

According to Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) online, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue last week gave Finance and Transport ministries the nod to let ACV designate contractors to accelerate the strategic partnering process.

The Transport Ministry has designated local brokerage BIDV Securities, a consultant for ACV’s equitisation, to continue to advise it on selling stakes to investors.

This contract is worth about 2.9 billion dong.

This month, Vietnamese law firm YKVN also won a bid, with approval from the ministry, to become a legal adviser for negotiations related to the partnering deal.

The contract is valued at 6 billion dong.

“With these consulting tools getting in place soon, ACV will have the necessary confidence to negotiate with ADP,” Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said.

The two companies are expected to conclude their deal this year, he said.

ADP expects the two sides to basically agree on investment provisions by September.

The agreement would create one of the premises for French President Francois Hollande’s September visit to Vietnam, Truong said.

According to Dau tu, ADP plans to buy shares of ACV at a price no less than 13,100 dong per share – the lowest winning rate when ACV auctioned its shares during an initial public offering on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange last December.

ADP has been operating 37 airports in the world through its subsidiary Airports de Paris Management (ADPM), including Charles de Gaulle and Orly in Paris.

ACV officially changed into a joint stock company in March, when its charter capital was recorded at more than 21 trillion dong.

The state retained 75 per cent of the company’s equity and made available a 20-per-cent stake for strategic investors.

Biz Hub reported earlier this year that Changi Airport International, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Changi Airport Group, and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam were also eyeing a strategic partnership with ACV.

Brian Davis, vice president of US firm Honeywell Aerospace, told Biz Hub late last year that Vietnam was one of the 10 fastest growing aerospace markets in the world.

The country’s aviation market had been growing by an average of 7-8 per cent per year in passenger traffic, and this growth was expected to continue over the next 20 years, he said.