Long Thanh Airport: A testament to the spirit of “nothing is impossible” (Part 1)

The construction investment project of Long Thanh International Airport is among the largest and most important of its kind in Vietnam. This “mega-project” is not only a symbolic national work, but also reflects a forward-looking planning vision, effective institutional reforms, and close coordination among different levels and sectors, aimed at creating a new development engine for the entire country, the Southern key economic region in general, and Dong Nai province in particular. Its early completion also stands as a compelling proof of Vietnam’s belief that “nothing is impossible.”

PART 1

EARLY COMPLETION OF THE COUNTRY'S CENTURY-DEFINING PROJECT

According to the plan, Phase 1 of Long Thanh Airport is scheduled for completion and operation by the end of 2026. However, following the direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Phase 1 of the project must be inaugurated on December 19, 2025, ahead of schedule, to maximize investment efficiency and create new momentum for national development. The Government and the Prime Minister have issued strong directives to shorten the project timeline.

Notably, on November 13, 2025, during an inspection at the construction site, Party General Secretary To Lam continued to request that relevant agencies accelerate investment for Phase 2 of the project, in line with the expectations of investors, contractors, residents, airlines, and local authorities.

Party General Secretary To Lam inspects the Long Thanh Airport project on November 13, 2025. Photo: Cong Nghia

Prime Minister conducts 8 inspection tours and issues a “command” to shorten the project timeline

On June 25, 2015, at the 9th session of the 13th National Assembly, the legislature adopted Resolution 94/2015/QH13 approving the investment policy for Long Thanh Airport, with the goal of building facilities to handle 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo per year.

More than five years later, on November 11, 2020, the Prime Minister signed Decision 1777/QD-TTg approving Phase 1 of the Long Thanh Airport construction investment project. Under this phase, the airport would include one runway, one passenger terminal, and supporting infrastructure with a capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually.

At the end of March 2025, the Prime Minister approved adjustments to Phase 1, including the addition of a second runway to be built within the same phase.

As a national special-priority project, since its groundbreaking in early 2021, Phase 1 of Long Thanh Airport has received close attention from leaders of the Party, State, National Assembly and Government, reflected in numerous field inspection tours, progress reviews, and encouragement to on-site workers. In particular, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has conducted eight field inspection tours to review progress.

On September 24, 2024, during his fourth working visit to inspect and work with relevant units about the progress of  Phase 1 of Long Thanh Airport project, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that this is the signature project of the current term and called for a 450-day emulation campaign to ensure basic completion of Phase 1 by December 31, 2025, earlier than the original 2026 deadline. In his 3 subsequent inspection tours, the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reaffirmed that the deadline of December 31, 2025 “must not be delayed.”

On August 2, 2025, during his 8th field inspection, after acknowledging significant progress since the previous visit, the Prime Minister set a new target: Phase 1 must be fundamentally completed by December 19, 2025, inaugurated as required, and ready for commercial operations in early 2026.

According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, early completion of the project will improve investment efficiency and enhance coordination among government agencies and localities. From there, it will help create jobs and livelihoods for local people and drive economic growth.

“The early completion of this project proves that ‘nothing is impossible’, what matters is determination and knowing how to get things done,” the Prime Minister stressed.

Party General Secretary To Lam also requested that relevant units expedite Phase 2 of the project, as this is the expectation of investors, contractors, the public, airlines and local authorities. He emphasized that relevant authorities must proactively propose investment in an additional runway and a second terminal to take advantage of existing equipment and increase the airport’s capacity to handle 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo per year as soon as possible.

Takeoff day is drawing near

On September 26, 2025, a Beech King Air 350ER aircraft, tail number B350, became the first aircraft to approach Runway No. 1 at Long Thanh Airport. This is a crucial milestone toward the goal of early completion.

Beech King Air 350ER aircraft conducting flight calibration at Long Thanh Airport in September 2025. Photo: Pham Tung

Nguyen Hoang Giang, Director of ATTECH (Air Traffic Technical Company Ltd.), said that for all newly constructed airports, the first step before being licensed for commercial operations is to carry out calibration flights. “For Long Thanh Airport, according to the schedule set by the Government, the inspection and evaluation flights also require the service provider to arrange and conduct the calibration flights with maximum flexibility to meet the timeline. Therefore, as early as 2024, ATTECH began preparing for calibration flights,” he noted.

Le Huy Tien, Director of the contractor consortium for the second runway, said the runway is 4km long and 75m wide, and construction began in late May 2025. Under the contract, the work is scheduled to be completed by late May 2026. However, in response to the accelerated timeline for both the overall project and this specific component, the contractor consortium has mobilized maximum human and mechanical resources, working “day and night” to shorten construction time. For this component, the contractor consortium aims to basically complete the foundation and subgrade work for the cement concrete runway before December 19, 2025, ensuring completion in sync with the passenger terminal and putting it into operation in June 2026 as required.

As for ACV (Airports Corporation of Vietnam), the investor of Component Project 3, Deputy CEO Nguyen Tien Viet said the objective is to welcome the first technical test flight landing on December 19, 2025. Therefore, the consortium of contractors is gathering all resources, mobilizing around 14,000 workers and 3,000 pieces of equipment to work in “three shifts, four crews” across all packages.

According to ACV, Long Thanh Airport consists of 15 bidding packages, of which three have been completed and 12 are under construction. The passenger terminal, the most critical component, has basically completed its construction. Contractors are now completing the roof over the wings and central concourse, erecting steel structures for boarding bridges, installing glass panels, stone cladding, and electrical, water supply, drainage and fire prevention systems.

Regarding the equipment installed at the terminal, including baggage handling systems, security scanners, escalators, moving walkways and elevators, production is being accelerated, and some equipment has already been installed. This November, security screening machines (SSE), CT EDS CB3 scanners and automated tray return systems, as well as body scanners for the carry-on baggage security checkpoints for international and domestic passengers, will be delivered to the construction site for timely installation before December 19, 2025.

The Long Thanh Airport project has a total investment of over USD 16 billion, covering 5,000 hectares, with a design capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo per year. Phase 1 requires approximately USD 4.7 billion, with a construction area covering over 1,800 hectares, and a designed capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo annually.

Redrawing the world’s aviation map

As one of the 16 most anticipated airport projects globally and the largest in Vietnam once fully completed, Long Thanh Airport is envisioned to become a key international aviation transit hub for the region.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the passenger terminal and runway/taxiway project in late August 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that Phase 1 of Long Thanh Airport and Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat Airport are two mega-projects of exceptional scale and significance within the national airport network. They are classified as key works related to national defense and security, and play a vital role in the socio-economic development of both the Southern key economic region in particular and the entire country in general.

“Once completed, these two projects will help transform Vietnam into a major transportation hub in the region and the world. They will open new development space with an aviation economic ecosystem, creating a new growth driver, and promoting development while enhancing national competitiveness,” the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed.

He added that aviation infrastructure is a critical component of the national transportation system, highly specialized and deeply integrated with global standards. Its development is key to expanding multimodal connectivity domestically and internationally. In doing so, this helps promote socio-economic development while fulfilling the tasks of ensuring national defense-security and safeguarding territorial sovereignty. However, aviation infrastructure requires modern, synchronized, and sustainable investment aligned with global trends,  with airports at the core.

In recent years, Vietnam’s aviation infrastructure has been upgraded, expanded and newly built through both state budget and private capital. Nevertheless, capacity still lags behind national and global growth. Many airports are “overloaded” both in the air and on the ground. Therefore, early completion and commissioning of Phase 1 of Long Thanh Airport is seen as part of the solution to this bottleneck, paving the way for new development opportunities for the country.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics and Member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Group, noted that Long Thanh Airport was intentionally positioned as an international aviation transit hub. With the world now operating in a highly connected technological era, the role of a hub airport is fundamentally different from before. Long Thanh must become a strategic coordinate enabling Vietnam to compete globally in the high-tech, interconnected era and construct a new development structure for the country.

On November 13, 2025, during his field inspection tour, Party General Secretary To Lam stated that Long Thanh Airport is not simply an airport, it is a strategic engine for national socio-economic development, especially in the Southern key economic region. The goal is for Long Thanh to become one of Southeast Asia’s most attractive aviation destinations, on par with, and even surpassing, the region’s leading airports.

“When completed, Long Thanh Airport will relieve pressure on Tan Son Nhat Airport, enhance regional connectivity across the Southeast region, and affirm Vietnam’s geostrategic position on the aviation map of Asia-Pacific region,” Party General Secretary To Lam stressed.

By Pham Tung – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha