Ho Chi Minh City's two airports' problem

Long Thanh International Airport is the planned second airport of Ho Chi Minh City. The airport is in neighbouring Dong Nai province, about 40 km east of the city centre. After years of construction delays, the new opening date for the airport has been proposed for December 2025.

The long-term vision for Long Thanh International Airport is to make it a major regional air hub. The airport has been planned with enough space to build 4 runways and eventually serve 100 million passengers per year. 

Meanwhile, Tan Son Nhat International Airport (the current airport of HCMC) opened Terminal 3 in April 2025, and it will continue to operate after Long Thanh opens. Ho Chi Minh City will thus join the two-airport club in the region, alongside Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.

While the long-term planning for Long Thanh is encouraging, the airport will not be ready to become a regional air hub until the transport links are built. The airport rail link hasn't even started construction, and there are delays in completing all of the connecting expressways.

The lack of transport links is affecting the decision on which airlines should fly to Long Thanh, and the flight ranges (domestic, international, short-haul, long-haul). There is debate on whether all international flights should be moved there or if a more cautious approach should be taken.

There is no point turning Long Thanh into an international air hub if it’s too difficult to get to central HCMC. Long Thanh is about 40 km east of Ben Thanh Market, and on a good day when there are no traffic problems, it should take about an hour. It could take up to two hours on a bad traffic day. 

In comparison, Tan Son Nhat is about 7 km from Ben Thanh Market and takes about 30 minutes by taxi.

Considering that there may not be an airport rail link for another decade, and with the motorways not complete, flying to Long Thanh will be a hard sell for most residents and visitors.

In this article, I consider the best short-term and long-term options for Long Thanh International Airport

Short-term plans for Long Thanh International Airport

An extended soft opening

Long Thanh will not be ready to become a regional air hub until the transport issues are resolved.  That's not to say that Long Thanh won't be useful when it opens. Long Thanh should initially be considered as an East Ho Chi Minh City airport, with a catchment area east of the Saigon River, Dong Nai province, and former Ba Ria-Vung Tau (now part of HCMC).

Long Thanh should start by operating some domestic flights on routes that have multiple flights per day (eg SGN-HAN, SGN-DAD), so passengers have a choice of what airport to use. International flights shouldn’t be considered until there is an efficient transport option.

Vietnam is planning to turn HCMC into an international financial hub, so the airport experience needs to make a lasting impression on visitors. A 2-hour taxi or bus ride from the airport is not an entrance that is befitting the grand ambitions of the city.

Slow and steady: The Al Maktoum International Airport model

The slow progress of Long Thanh's construction has been frustrating for Saigonese, but it will be better to let Long Thanh grow over time rather than forcing it to be an international air hub on day one. A good example outside of Southeast Asia is in Dubai.

Al Maktoum International Airport is the second airport of Dubai, and it is eventually planned to replace Dubai International Airport (DXB). Al Maktoum has been designed to eventually have 5 runways with a capacity of 160 million passengers per year.

DXB is next to the old city area of Deira. It's a convenient location and there is even a metro connection from Deira to DXB. The airport is too close to the city (even closer than Tan Son Nhat is to the city), and there is no room to expand.

Airlines are starting to use Al Maktoum International Airport for passenger and cargo flights, though Emirates remains at DXB as its business model depends on connecting flights. It would not be possible for Emirates to operate from two airports. Emirates will move to Al Maktoum when it is ready.

This is a problem that airlines like Vietnam Airlines will face (though on a much smaller scale). If Vietnam Airlines uses Tan Son Nhat for short-haul flights (such as to Phnom Penh or Bangkok) but long-haul flights are from Long Thanh (such as to Australia), then they will not be able to offer connecting flights. Vietnam Airlines needs to operate all flights from Long Thanh so it can continue to offer connecting flights.

Move cargo flights and fix terminal connectivity at Tan Son Nhat

Cargo flights will be moved from Tan Son Nhat to Long Thanh, so this is an operation that can begin immediately. Moving cargo operations will also free up space at Tan Son Nhat so that the terminals can be connected.

One of the problems that has arisen from the construction of Terminal 3 is that it's not connected to Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Domestic Vietnam Airlines passengers fly into T3, and they have to get a transfer bus to T2 (International). There needs to be a people mover between terminals, like most international airports have.

Freeing up space at Tan Son Nhat will also allow construction room for the proposed metro line (possibly Line 4B), and be designed so that all terminals can access the metro without a transfer bus.

Long-term plans for Long Thanh International Airport

Once the roads and rail links are built, it is time for Long Thanh to become the regional air hub that it is destined to become.

Follow the Bangkok two-airport model

Bangkok provides the best example of how to operate two airports in one city. Not that Bangkok planned it that way, as the city stumbled its way into its two-airport operation. 

Bangkok wasn't planning on being a two-airport city when Suvarnabhumi Airport opened in September 2006. The initial plan was for Don Muang to close and for Suvarnabhumi to be the single airport for Bangkok. 

Suvarnabhumi was plagued by construction issues when it opened, and the low-cost airlines were unhappy with the higher costs. Don Muang reopened for domestic flights in March 2007, six months after it was supposed to close. In October 2012, all low-cost, chartered, and non-connecting flights were moved to Don Muang.

Bangkok's two-airport operation was not a smooth start, but it has ultimately worked out for the best. As a bonus, both airports have access to a railway, and there are plans to build an airport rail link connecting Don Muang, Suvarnabhumi, and U-Tapao (near Pattaya).

Long Thanh should follow the Suvarnabhumi model and be the airport for connecting flights, while Tan Son Nhat should be for point-to-point flights. This would be mostly low-cost airlines, but for high-volume routes, other domestic airlines could operate flights there as well.

I will publish another article about the railway plans for Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat.