ACV to be investor for phase two of Long Thanh airport in southern Vietnam

The Ministry of Construction has approved the state-controlled Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) as investor for phase two of Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai province.

Under a decision issued last Friday, ACV will act as the investor for phase two, except for technical infrastructure that ensures flight operations which will be developed by Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM).

The ministry assigned ACV, also the investor of phase 1, to prepare the feasibility study for the new phase, including the option to phase investments in line with operational demand.

It also required ACV to ensure sufficient funding for phase-two construction, meet quality and timeline requirements, improve investment efficiency, and preserve and grow state capital at the enterprise.

The company was instructed to closely coordinate with VATM during the investment preparation process.

In December 2025, ACV had proposed that it continue as investor for the next phase of the project, arguing that doing so would be efficient as personnel, machinery and construction equipment from phase one are already in place at the site.

According to ACV estimates, Tan Son Nhat International Airport is estimated to handle about 42 million passengers in 2025, including 18 million international and 24 million domestic travellers.

If 80% of international passengers and 20% of domestic passengers are redirected from Tan Son Nhat to Long Thanh once operations begin, Long Thanh airport could handle 17-18 million passengers a year from the outset. At that pace, the phase one capacity of 25 million passengers per year would be filled within just two to three years of operation, ACV said.

The corporation added that commencing construction right after the completion of phase one works (December 2025), during the 2025-2026 dry season - would allow the project to leverage existing contractors, workforce, and equipment, significantly reducing mobilization time and costs while building on experience gained during phase one.

Vietnam’s Masterise, a private group, has been selected by the Government and the Ministry of Public Security as the investor for the Gia Binh International Airport project in northern Vietnam.

The National Assembly on December 11 approved an investment plan for the Gia Binh project, which will cost about VND196.38 trillion ($7.45 billion) to meet international standards, including 5-star service.

Phase one of the Long Thanh project, with a total investment of nearly VND110 trillion ($4.18 billion), is scheduled for implementation from 2020 to 2026. The phase comprises four sub-projects.

Once phase one is completed, the terminal will have a capacity of 25 million passengers per year and also handle 1.2 million tons of cargo annually. Phase 2, scheduled by 2035, will expand capacity to 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of cargo by adding a second runway and terminal.

In the final phase, Long Thanh is expected to reach full operational capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo per year by 2050.

The first passenger flights touched down at Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai province on December 19, 2025, marking the inaugural civil aviation operation at Vietnam’s largest airport.

Flight VN1, operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, completed the two-hour Hanoi-Long Thanh route at 8:10 a.m., carrying Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh and nearly 100 other passengers.

ACV then said key components of the Long Thanh project, including runway 1, taxiways, aircraft aprons, and internal airport access roads, had been complete and ready for synchronized operations.