Long Thanh int'l airport expected to help boost growth of southern key economic region
HCM City, December 26 (VNA) – Scheduled to begin operations in 2026, Long Thanh International Airport is not merely a major engineering milestone but a strategic solution to long-standing growth bottlenecks in Vietnam’s southern key economic region.
For years, Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City has operated far beyond its designed capacity, resulting in chronic congestion, flight delays and mounting pressure on surrounding transport infrastructure. Against this backdrop, the emergence of Long Thanh International Airport with a capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per year in the first phase is expected to significantly ease the burden.
Nguyen Kim Long, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai provincial People’s Committee, said the Long Thanh airport is an important project of the nation and ranks among the world’s largest airports. It plays a critical role in Vietnam’s national and international aviation networks. Once put into operation, it will fundamentally enhance the country’s international connectivity, reduce pressure on Tan Son Nhat, and elevate the Southeast region’s position on the global aviation map. This will create a strong foundation for deeper international integration and attraction of investment, high technology, logistics services and global value chains.
For Dong Nai province, the Long Thanh airport is identified as the core of an integrated airport-centered service city and one of the two main growth drivers in the 2025–2030 period. The province aims to develop a comprehensive ecosystem encompassing aviation services, logistics, trade and tourism, including logistics hubs, free trade zones and high-quality services, in order to fully harness the airport’s spillover effects on infrastructure investment, urbanisation and value creation.
Located at the gateway of the Southeastern region which is Vietnam’s most dynamic economic zone, Dong Nai lies within the already established Ho Chi Minh City–Binh Duong–Dong Nai development triangle. Under its provincial master plan for 2021–2030, with a vision to 2050, Dong Nai is set to become an international trade hub with a modern and comprehensive service sector closely linked at inter-provincial, regional and global levels.
The province’s long-term development vision rests on four pillars, notably the “airport economic zone as Asia’s trade gateway,” a modern industrial and supporting-services centre, and an urban and tourism services hub. Priority is given to developing aviation logistics centres, free trade areas, exhibition and convention complexes, and international trade promotion facilities, with the Long Thanh Airport as a new growth engine.
Economic experts noted that, as Vietnam’s largest aviation hub and a symbol of international integration, Long Thanh will significantly enhance foreign direct investment inflows into Dong Nai and the southern region. Supporting infrastructure such as seaports, logistics centres and modern industrial parks is expected to create an attractive environment for long-term investment, technology transfer and competitiveness enhancement.
The airport is also forecast to spur the rapid development of surrounding satellite cities, forming large-scale service and logistics centres and a diversified investment ecosystem. Localities such as Nhon Trach and Phu My are expected to emerge as new growth poles, drawing investment into real estate, infrastructure, logistics and tourism.
Business representatives believed that while the “economic runway” for 2026 is taking shape, the decisive factors will be the speed of connectivity infrastructure development, administrative reforms and the establishment of competitive policy frameworks. If implemented decisively and in a coordinated manner, the Long Thanh airport area could become a new growth pole, delivering tangible benefits in investment, jobs and sustainable development from 2026 onward./.
