PM urges Long Thanh airport completion by 2025

To fast-track progress, the PM instructed the state-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the project’s investor, to submit documentation for the second runway next week for evaluation and approval by relevant authorities.

The aim is to present it at the upcoming session of the National Assembly next month.

“The documentation for the first runway is already finalized. We need to leverage that to accelerate the completion of the second runway’s paperwork,” Chinh said during an inspection of the project with ACV and the Ministry of Transport on Tuesday.

He expressed optimism that with favorable conditions and efforts of the investor and contractors, the project could be substantially completed by Dec. 31, 2025.

Previously, the target for Long Thanh’s completion was set for 2026, with ACV aiming to welcome the first commercial flight by Sept. 2, Vietnam’s National Day, of that year.

The construction site of Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai Province in September 2024. Photo by Read/Phuoc Tuan

The Long Thanh Airport project covers 5,000 hectares in Dong Nai Province, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City, with a total investment of approximately VND336.63 trillion (US$13.38 billion). Construction began in early 2021.

In its first phase, the airport will build one runway, a passenger terminal, and supporting facilities with a capacity to serve 25 million passengers annually. Phases two and three will expand the airport’s capacity to 50 million and eventually 100 million passengers per year.

Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport can currently handle 30 million passengers annually, while HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat Airport accommodates up to 25 million.