Long Thanh international airport: Aspiration to reach the global stage

After a long journey marked by great effort and determination, Long Thanh International Airport has officially taken shape, marking an important turning point in Vietnam’s aviation infrastructure. The event of welcoming the first three technical flights on December 19, 2025 not only affirmed outstanding capacity in terms of construction and organization, but also conveyed the nation’s aspiration to reach new heights on the international stage.

Party General Secretary To Lam (front row, third from the right) during a visit and working session on the Long Thanh International Airport Project on November 13, 2025. Photo: Cong Nghia

From a vast rubber-growing area that had supported the livelihoods of thousands of households for decades, a regional-scale mega-project has emerged, promising to become a gateway for international trade and a development driver for Dong Nai, the Southern Key Economic Region, and the country in a new phase.

The journey of forming a strategic project

Looking back on the journey so far, the Long Thanh Airport Project is regarded as a remarkable achievement, clearly reflecting strong political resolve, determination in action, and the consensus of the entire political system and the people.

The investment policy for Long Thanh Airport was approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 94/2015/QH13 dated June 25, 2015, marking a significant milestone in the national strategy for transport infrastructure development. In November 2018, the Prime Minister signed the decision approving the project, assigning Dong Nai Province to carry out compensation and site clearance over an area of more than 5,000 hectares. This was an exceptionally major task—the largest land acquisition ever undertaken by a locality—directly affecting the lives of a large number of residents. Faced with this historic requirement, Dong Nai identified site clearance as the “key stage” determining the progress and success of the entire project.

With a policy of transparency, openness, and placing people at the center, the province implemented a systematic, persistent and effective mass mobilization campaign. In parallel with compensation and site clearance, resettlement areas were urgently invested in and developed, notably the Loc An – Binh Son resettlement area covering more than 280 hectares, featuring synchronized urban infrastructure such as transport, electricity, water supply, schools, medical facilities and social works. As a result, more than 28,000 residents were able to quickly stabilize their lives and willingly hand over land for the “project of the century.”

October 20, 2020 became an important landmark when Dong Nai handed over nearly 2,600 hectares of cleared land to the investor, ahead of the original schedule. In January 2021, construction officially started on Long Thanh Airport, opening an intense yet highly commendable construction phase. At peak times, nearly 15,000 workers and more than 3,000 machines and pieces of equipment were mobilized, with non-stop construction organized in “three shifts, four crews” to ensure progress.

Phase 1 of the project has a total investment of nearly 110 trillion VND, including key components such as a passenger terminal with a capacity of 25 million passengers per year, a runway meeting the highest 4F standard of the International Civil Aviation Organization, an air traffic control tower, and a synchronized technical infrastructure system. The passenger terminal is likened to the “heart,” while the air traffic control tower is the “brain” of the airport, incorporating many modern technical solutions.

During the implementation, the project faced numerous challenges, from enormous workloads and stringent technical requirements to weather impacts and fluctuations in construction material markets. However, thanks to close direction from the Party, the State and the Government, and close coordination among ministries, sectors and localities, difficulties were gradually resolved.

Nguyen Thi My Ngoc, a resident of Long Thanh District, shared: “We are very proud that a national-scale project is being built on our homeland. We also understood the difficulties during implementation, so when the project first started, residents of the former Suoi Trau Commune like us willingly relocated elsewhere so the project could proceed smoothly. As the project’s shape has gradually become clearer, we are very happy to have made a small contribution to helping it reach this milestone today.”

Long Thanh International Airport is not only important to the southern region but also to the sustainable development of the entire country. This mega-project has been identified as a regional-scale international aviation hub and a driver of socio-economic development, promoting regional connectivity and expanding development space for the entire Southeast region and the Southern Key Economic Region. Therefore, relevant agencies and units must focus on discussions, propose solutions, and assess and quantify specific results—using passenger satisfaction and attractiveness to international investors as key measures of effectiveness.

Party General Secretary To Lam speaking at a working session on the Long Thanh Airport Project on November 13, 2025.

A development engine and the nation’s gateway to integration

After nearly five years of construction with an enormous workload, Phase 1 of the Long Thanh Airport Project has achieved foundational results. At the end of 2025, a special milestone was recorded when the airport successfully welcomed three technical flights operated by major domestic airlines.

The successful reception of these technical flights shows that Long Thanh Airport is ready for the commercial operation phase, scheduled for the first half of 2026. In Phase 1, the airport has a designed capacity of 25 million passengers per year. In the long term, under the master plan to 2050, Long Thanh Airport is expected to reach a capacity of 100 million passengers per year, becoming one of the major aviation hubs in Southeast Asia.

The scale of Long Thanh Airport extends far beyond the more than 5,000 hectares of the project site, strongly radiating across the region’s development space. Dong Nai Province, together with central ministries and agencies, is synchronously implementing a series of key transport connectivity projects. These include the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway, the Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3, and the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway, all of which are being accelerated.

Throughout the implementation process, central leaders have repeatedly conducted on-site inspections and working sessions, emphasizing the need to maintain progress while ensuring quality, technical standards and absolute safety. Dong Nai Province has also established a Steering Committee to implement key tasks, promptly addressing difficulties and obstacles, with the aim of turning Long Thanh Airport into an internationally competitive aviation destination—using passenger satisfaction and attractiveness to investors as measures of effectiveness.

In the long run, once fully operational, Long Thanh Airport will help ease pressure on Tan Son Nhat Airport; at the same time, it will create tens of thousands of new jobs, promote economic restructuring, expand urban space, and elevate Dong Nai’s role in the Southern Key Economic Region. From the vast rubber forests of the past to today’s bustling mega construction site, the journey of forming Long Thanh Airport stands as vivid evidence of the nation’s will, determination and aspiration for development.

During the ninth inspection of the Long Thanh Airport Project, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the need to avoid any mistake and requested proposals to commend collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements. In the medium and long terms, the Prime Minister directed ministries, sectors, agencies and localities to implement tasks decisively, in a coordinated and effective manner, in line with the conclusions of Party General Secretary To Lam during his visit to the project on November 13, 2025. In particular, Long Thanh Airport must be taken as the core for developing the aviation economy and aviation ecosystem, creating a new growth pole, rather than merely operating an airport.

By Tung Minh – Translated by Trieu Ngan, Thu Ha