PM demands Long Thanh airport open in first half of 2026

The PM directed the state-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which manages and operates all civil airports in Vietnam, to push progress and make sure that all relevant units, officers, engineers, and workers speed up their work this year and next so that Long Thanh International Airport will be completed and put into use within the first half of 2026, according to a notice released by the Government Office.

The PM made the decision, signed on Feb. 18, following his field trip to inspect the two projects of Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai Province and the T3 domestic terminal of the neighboring Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport on Feb. 12 and 13.

Construction of the Long Thanh airport, set to replace 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 5 million tons of cargo annually.

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

Regarding the T3 passenger terminal project, PM Chinh assessed that ACV has made many efforts to implement the project to meet schedule.

However, the need to put the project into operation soon is urgent to reduce the load on the other domestic terminal T1. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the progress, so that the new terminal can be put into operation by the end of April next year.

Being built at the total cost of VND11 trillion of the state budget, T3 will be the larger domestic passenger terminal at Tan Son Nhat, with a capacity of 20 million passengers a year.

It will be capable of handling 7,000 passengers per hour during peak hours and will accommodate all types of aircraft.

It is designed to have four floors, one basement, 90 counters, 27 boarding gates and 25 security gates.

Tan Son Nhat is Vietnam's busiest airport with an average of 60,000-70,000 passengers per day.

Last year it served 40.7 million passengers, against a designed capacity of 28 million and up 18.85% against 2022.