Vietnam aims to make Long Thanh Southeast Asia's leading aviation hub

By Vu Tuan December 12, 2025 | 10:30 pm PT

The construction site of Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam, in December 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Vietnamese government has issued a directive to accelerate the development of Long Thanh International Airport, aiming to establish it as the most attractive and competitive aviation destination in Southeast Asia, with the ultimate goal of surpassing current regional leaders.

According to conclusions announced by the Government Office on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized that Long Thanh must be positioned not merely as a large-scale infrastructure project, but as an internationally competitive hub.

To realize this vision, the Ministry of Construction has been tasked with instructing the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and Vietnam Airlines to develop a rigorous criteria framework. This framework will strictly prioritize service quality, operational efficiency, connectivity, and transit capability to ensure Long Thanh's attractiveness within the regional flight network.

The government is moving quickly to prepare for additional investments, specifically directing officials to plan for a second runway and a second passenger terminal. Efforts are focused on leveraging existing machinery and resources to swiftly increase the airport's annual capacity to 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of cargo. These significant capacity expansion tasks are expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

To attract international carriers and make Long Thanh a preferred destination in global flight networks, regulators have also called for competitive policies. These policies must address fees, charges, ground services, maintenance, cargo transit, and promotional activities. General Secretary To Lam emphasized this necessity during a site inspection on Nov. 13, calling for early adoption of policies to position Long Thanh as a priority destination.

The airport's development is being advanced alongside a comprehensive plan for supporting transport infrastructure. Regulators mandate the simultaneous acceleration of the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau Expressway, the Ben Luc–Long Thanh Expressway, and Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Roads 3 and 4.

Ho Chi Minh City has also been assigned to speed up investment preparations for the Thu Thiem, Long Thanh light rail line and the Suoi Tien–Dong Nai Administrative Center, Long Thanh Airport metro line. Both key urban connections are targeted to begin construction in 2026.

Beyond transport, Long Thanh is planned to develop a complete aviation services ecosystem designed to gradually form an "airport city." This new regional services and transit hub for Southeast Asia will integrate accommodations, hotels, conference facilities, commercial services, healthcare, training, maintenance, logistics, bonded zones, and financial services.

Long Thanh Airport's Phase 1, which has a designed capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo annually, broke ground in January 2021.

Many key components have now been completed, with flight inspection and calibration conducted from late September to late October. The airport is expected to begin technical operations next week and full commercial operations in mid-2026.