Vietnam's biggest airport in the making still stuck at site clearance

Of the 2,532 ha of land earmarked for the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province that borders HCMC, the contractors have received 2,459 ha.

Tardy site clearance has slowed down construction of the cargo terminal, the delivery depot, the aircraft cleaning area, and maintenance of ground equipment, Transport Minister Nguyen Van The said in a report to the National Assembly.

The first phase will build a runway for takeoff and landing, taxiways, terminals and several ancillary items to allow the airport to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo per year.

Of the entire 5,000 ha needed to complete the airport, more than 4,700 ha have been cleared and transferred.

The government’s report says that the slow progress of site clearance is mainly caused by issues related to the resettlement of affected families.

Many families living in areas designated for the airport project do not have papers proving legal ownership of their houses and land, making it difficult to complete compensation and relocation procedures.

The government said it has requested Dong Nai authorities to issue land use certificates so that affected families can move out from the construction site soon.

Work on Long Thanh airport, which will replace HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport as Vietnam’s biggest when complete, began Jan. 5 last year after many years of preparation and lengthy land acquisition. In February this year, a year after work began, only fencing and demining had been completed, drawing criticism from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Costing an estimated $16 billion, the fully built airport is set to serve 100 million passengers a year.

The Transport Ministry last month ordered project investor Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and the commercial airports operator Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to work together and ensure that Long Thanh can serve its first flight on Sept. 2, 2025.