Long Thanh International Airport

Long Thanh International Airport (Vietnamese: Sân bay Quốc tế Long Thành) is an airport planned for construction in Long Thanh, Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam, approx 40 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. It is intended to become operational by 2020. It will serve over 100 million passengers annually when built to the maximum designed capacity.

Urgent necessity of a new airport

Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Can Tho International Airport is the 2 only international airports in the South of Vietnam. Tan Son Nhat airport was built during the Vietnam War to support war transportation, hence its location inside the crowded Ho Chi Minh City where growth is limited. Due to location and safety issues, it is difficult to expand to meet the increasing annual growth of passengers.

The flow of international tourists to the South of Vietnam is increasing dramatically, by 15 to 20 percent annually. To motivate the domestic market (current population of 87 millions, forecast of 100 million by 2020) it is necessary to build a new airport that can adapt to future needs.

Tan Son Nhat airport will serve the domestic market after the completion of the new Long Thanh International Airport.

The Master Plan

The Master Plan for Long Thanh International Airport was approved by the Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải in 2006. The airport will cover an area of 50 square kilometres. It will have four runways (4,000 m x 60 m), five terminals and concourses with a maximum capacity of up to 80 to 100 million passengers a year. The cargo terminal will be able to handle up to 5 million metric tonnes of cargo per annum. The total cost of construction is estimated around US $10 billion, making it one of the world's most expensive single projects, which will be invested from the government's investment budget, private and foreign funds.

Based on the demand of transportation, the investment will be divided in phases. The Southern Airport Authority (an organization under The Ministry of Transportation of Viet Nam) is in charge of development of this project.

Number of air passengers in Vietnam's airports will reach 82 million by 2020.