Finish Long Thanh Airport six months early: PM

The request was made of the project’s main investor while the Prime Minister visited the Long Thanh site on Tuesday, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Despite rising temperatures outside, nearly 1,000 engineers and workers were still working through the Tet holiday to take advantage of favorable weather during the dry season.

The PM said he highly appreciated the progress that has been made on the project so far. Site clearance and basic procedures have been completed, while the 4-km-long runway has taken shape, and the underground part of the runway has been completed.

"We need to strive to shorten the time by 3-6 months to make up for the [initial] delay," PM said.

According to the previous plan, the airport was to be completed in early 2026, but due to difficulties in bidding for the passenger terminal package, the project was pushed back six months.

Construction of the Long Thanh airport, set to replace Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat as Vietnam’s largest, has been in full swing since the end of 2022.

Long Thanh is expected to cost about VND336.63 trillion (US$13.8 billion) in funds from the state budget. Planners aim to have the facility eventually able to provide for a capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo annually.

During its first phase, its capacity will be 25 million passengers.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, upon becoming operational, the airport will require about 13,800 employees.