The driving force powering Dong Nai’s takeoff

Long Thanh International Airport – hailed as the nation’s “project of the century” – is not merely an aviation hub, but a strategic catalyst for socio-economic development at the national level, across the Southern Key Economic Region, and for Dong Nai Province in particular.

UNITING EFFORTS FOR A “MEGA” PROJECT

Under the master plan, once fully completed, Long Thanh Airport will have a designed capacity of 100 million passengers and 25 million tons of cargo per year, becoming the largest airport in the country and a new international gateway connecting Vietnam with the world.

In early 2021, Phase 1 of the Long Thanh Airport Project was officially launched. Nearly five years later, on December 19, 2025, Long Thanh Airport welcomed its first official landing flights.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh is the special guest on the first passenger flight landing at Long Thanh International Airport on the morning of December 19, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of VNA

At a working session at the project site on November 13, 2025, Party General Secretary To Lam assessed that the overall progress of Phase 1 of the project had achieved very positive results, with efforts underway to basically complete it before December 19, 2025. Party General Secretary To Lam also highly praised the spirit of dedication, responsibility, creativity, and urgency demonstrated by the entire political system, project investors, consulting and supervision units, as well as officials, engineers, and workers at the construction site, notably the outstanding efforts of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the investor of Component Project 3, which includes key and essential airport facilities.

“The project has initially demonstrated financial efficiency and the self-reliance capacity of Vietnamese enterprises, with expectations of shortening the payback period and reducing investment costs,” Party General Secretary To Lam noted.

To achieve the project’s “lightning-fast” construction progress, one of the key contributing factors was site clearance. Long Thanh Airport is planned on an area of approximately 5,000 hectares in Dong Nai Province.

At the working session on the Long Thanh Airport Project on November 13, Vu Hong Van, Secretary of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Dong Nai National Assembly Delegation, stated that with a profound sense of responsibility before the Party, the State, and the People, and with the highest level of political determination, the Long Thanh Airport Project has completed compensation and support for more than 7,200 households and 18 organizations. To date, the province has arranged resettlement for nearly 5,800 households and handed over 100% of the site to ACV, with a total area of about 5,000 hectares, for project implementation.

Regarding construction, Vu The Phiet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ACV, said that the Long Thanh Airport Project is a massive undertaking, not only in terms of investment scale and high technical requirements, but also in strategic vision, serving as a key driver for the country’s socio-economic development. During implementation, the project faced numerous unprecedented challenges, including large-scale site clearance directly affecting the lives of tens of thousands of residents. In addition, the project went through the years of the Covid-19 pandemic, when construction sites at times faced labor shortages, lack of experts, disrupted supply chains, sharp fluctuations in material prices, and scarce supplies. At the same time, there was enormous pressure related to schedule, quality, and compliance with the most stringent standards. “These difficulties were not just on paper, but present every day, every hour at the construction site, in every decision and every work shift,” Vu The Phiet shared.

However, thanks to close, specific, and decisive direction from the Party, the State, the Government, and the Prime Minister, difficulties and bottlenecks were gradually resolved. Many special mechanisms and timely decisions were issued with the spirit of not allowing obstacles to hinder development, and not letting prolonged issues slow down the project or the country’s momentum for progress. It was this resolute, consistent, and highly responsible spirit that enabled the project to rapidly move toward the finish line.

THE “CORE DRIVER” OF DOUBLE-DIGIT ECONOMIC GROWTH

Also at the working session with Party General Secretary To Lam on the Long Thanh Airport Project, Vu Hong Van stated that Dong Nai Province has consistently identified Long Thanh Airport and the Dong Nai River as key potentials, advantages, and driving forces to promote double-digit economic growth in the coming period. Accordingly, Dong Nai Province has proactively prepared the necessary conditions to fully leverage these advantages once Long Thanh Airport becomes operational.

Politburo member and Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh (sixth from the right) together with guests aboard the first special flight landing at Long Thanh International Airport on the morning of December 19. Photo: Courtesy of VNA

Regarding transport connectivity to Long Thanh International Airport, to date, Route No.1 and Route No.2 have been completed, along with the Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway connecting to the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway, and the inter-port road. At the same time, construction is underway on key expressways including Bien Hoa – Vung Tau; Ben Luc – Long Thanh; Long Thanh – Ho Tram; Ring Roads 3 and 4 of Ho Chi Minh City; as well as intra-provincial routes such as 25B, 25C, 769E, and other related routes. Major railway projects, including the North-South high-speed railway; the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau railway; the extension of the urban railway from Suoi Tien to the provincial political-administrative center and Long Thanh Airport; and the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway, are also being expedited in terms of documentation to move toward implementation.

In addition, based on the approval in principle by Party General Secretary To Lam regarding proposals from Dong Nai Province, provincial authorities are currently focusing on accelerating planning work and finalizing the Project on the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to fully leverage the advantages of Long Thanh International Airport.

It is imperative to elevate development thinking so that Long Thanh Airport is not merely an airport, but a new strategic driving force for regional and national development. Long Thanh Airport must be built in line with modern, green, and smart standards, with international stature, serving not only operational needs but also acting as a catalyst for the development of the aviation economy, logistics services, and eco-urban services, thereby enhancing national and regional competitiveness.

At the Conference on the dissemination and implementation of Conclusion Notice No. 420-TB/VPTW dated November 17, 2025, issued by the Party Central Committee’s Office regarding the conclusions of Party General Secretary To Lam at the working session on the Long Thanh Airport Project – organized by the provincial People’s Committee on December 11, 2025 – Truong Thi Huong Binh, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Director of the Department of Finance, stated that with regard to the provincial Project on the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the Department of Finance has so far completed the draft proposal and advised the provincial People’s Committee to submit it to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal. Following the appraisal and feedback from the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Finance will continue to supplement and finalize the project.

The first flight of Vietnam’s national carrier officially lands at Long Thanh International Airport on December 19, 2025. Photo: Pham Tung

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Duong Van Hieu stated that with regard to spatial development planning and economic corridors, Dong Nai Province will implement synchronized planning of transport routes connecting Long Thanh Airport with localities across the Southeast region and key growth areas, while also planning the formation of new urban centers under the airport city model.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Ut requested that agencies and units promptly implement the contents of Conclusion Notice No. 420 so that they are translated into practice, enabling Dong Nai to achieve substantive development over the next five-year roadmap. The goal is to build Long Thanh Airport into a national brand of Vietnam; so that mentioning Long Thanh Airport means mentioning Dong Nai, and mentioning Dong Nai means referring to Long Thanh Airport. In this context, the provincial Project on the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) must have its completion accelerated to keep pace with the overall progress of the Long Thanh Airport Project.

By Pham Tung - Translated by Quynh Giao, Thu Ha