At Vietnam’s largest airport, being built at an estimated cost of VND35 trillion (US$1.4 billion), the lotus petal design is clearly visible next to one of the runways that is under construction.
Vietur, a consortium comprising 10 companies including Vietnam’s Ricons, Newtecons and Sol E&C and Turkey’s IC Holdings, has 8,000 engineers and workers working around the clock to ensure the progress is on schedule.
Most of the packages for the passenger terminal have reached the topping-out stage, with the concrete structures for the columns, beams and floors on levels 1, 2, and 3 largely completed. The final concrete work on the beams and floors on level 4 is currently in progress.
Topping out refers to a milestone in construction when the highest point of a building's structure is completed, with the final beam or structural element placed at the top. It is a significant moment in construction, often marked by a ceremony, as it indicates that the basic framework or skeleton of the building is finished, allowing for the next phases of construction to get under way.
A week ago the construction team began assembling the steel framework for the roof of the terminal’s two wings. According to the construction consortium, the steel components were all imported.
"I've been in construction for many years, but working on the Long Thanh Airport project is such an honor. Everyone here strives to follow the technical and design standards to ensure quality," Nam, a worker at the site, said.
Cranes are lifting steel components to assemble the terminal's roof. Cranes with a capacity to lift 600-800 tons are used at the site.
According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the airport's investor, the construction is expected to be fully completed by 2025, with equipment installation and trial operations starting in early 2026, and the entire phase 1 of the airport slated for completion by August 2026.
A staircase from level 3 to level 4 inside the terminal.
The Incheon Airport consortium of South Korea has won the contract for consulting, managing and operating Long Thanh Airport.
On Aug. 30 it signed an agreement with the state-owned ACV. It is led by the Incheon International Airport Corporation and Vietnam’s own PMI Consulting Services JSC.
A general view of the construction site with its runway and terminal.
Recently the ACV proposed construction of a second runway and taxiway as part of the second phase of the airport at a cost of VND3.45 trillion, expected to be completed by 2027. This runway will run parallel to the existing one in the area cleared during phase 1.
A section of the runway that has been mostly completed.
The runway will be four kilometers long.
Besides the runway, this package also includes taxiways, connecting taxiways, rapid exit taxiways, aircraft parking aprons, and ground service vehicle aprons, and costs VND7.2 trillion.
Workers poured concrete for the taxiways and aprons on Aug. 29. The runway is expected to be completed and ready for operations by April 30, 2025.
The control tower and its supporting structures are expected to cost VND3.5 trillion. The 123-meter tower, designed in the shape of a lotus bud, has a harmonious color scheme and architecture that complements the passenger terminal.
It has risen to a height of over 100 meters and is expected to be completed by June 2025.
In addition to the main packages inside the airport, the Deo Ca consortium, which comprises eight companies, is working on two roads, T1 and T2, connecting Long Thanh Airport with National Highway 51 and the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, which links HCMC and Dong Nai. They are set to cost VND2.63 trillion.
According to the consortium, the roads are contracted to be completed by the end of next year, but efforts are being made to finish them by the National Day on Sept. 2, 2025, nearly four months ahead of schedule.
An artist’s rendering of Long Thanh Airport. Photo by ACV
The Long Thanh International Airport will span 5,000 hectares and cost around VND336.63 trillion. In the first phase, scheduled for completion by 2026, it will have one runway, a passenger terminal, supporting facilities, and a capacity of 25 million passengers a year.
