Vietnam’s Long Thanh airport to open in 2026 in £9.5bn expansion aimed at becoming global hub
New Long Thanh International Airport, built on 5,000 hectares outside Ho Chi Minh City, will open its first phase next year with three terminals and four runways and eventual capacity for up to 100 million passengers.
Vietnam’s new Long Thanh International Airport is scheduled to open its first phase in 2026, marking a major expansion of the country’s aviation infrastructure that officials say will create one of the world’s largest airport hubs.
The VND336 trillion (about £9.5 billion) project, sited on roughly 5,000 hectares in Long Thanh about 40 kilometres from central Ho Chi Minh City, will initially include three terminals and four runways. The first phase is designed to handle about 25 million passengers a year, with final development planned to increase capacity to as many as 100 million passengers annually.
Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) is the main developer of the project, which is being built in multiple phases. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2026. Subsequent stages will expand the terminal complex and runway system; a fourth terminal and a fourth runway are planned to be added by 2035, the target date for the full build-out.
When fully operational, Long Thanh is expected to take over international services currently handled by Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Tan Son Nhat would then focus on domestic and short-haul flights, reducing pressure on the older airport and streamlining operations across the region.
The new main concourse has been designed with an 82-metre glass roof inspired by a lotus flower. Project planners say the location and scale of the site will allow Long Thanh to compete with existing global hubs in cities such as Dubai and Dallas.
Transport links to the city are integral to the development. Plans include expansion of the connecting motorway, construction of a new metro line and a high-speed rail link to shorten travel times between the airport and Ho Chi Minh City. Project documents and media reports note that current transfers between airports and the city can take up to five hours in some cases, a situation the new transport links aim to address.
Vietnam’s tourism sector has shown rapid growth in 2025, a factor cited in arguments for the airport’s scale. Market Research Vietnam reported that arrivals reached 10.7 million by mid-year, a 21 percent increase from the same period in 2024, reflecting rising international demand for travel to the country.
The phased approach to construction is intended to allow operations to begin while later expansion continues. The first phase will provide the initial passenger and runway capacity necessary to shift international flights, while long-term plans anticipate progressively increasing throughput and service offerings over the following decade.
Authorities have presented Long Thanh as a strategic infrastructure investment to support Vietnam’s growing aviation and tourism sectors and to accommodate future growth in passenger and cargo traffic. The project has been prominent in planning discussions for several years and remains a central element of national plans to modernize transport hubs and reduce congestion at existing airports.
Construction and operational timelines may be subject to change as work continues, but the scheduled 2026 opening of the first phase represents a key milestone in the country’s effort to expand international connectivity and position Ho Chi Minh City as a major air transport hub in the Asia-Pacific region.