A Race Against Time: Long Thanh Airport – Targeting 2025 for Completion

Accompanying the Prime Minister were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh, Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises Nguyen Hoang Anh, and leaders of ministries, branches, and localities.

Long Thanh International Airport is the largest airport project in the country to date and is of particular importance to the socio-economic development of the Southeast region and the whole country.

This is the fifth time the Prime Minister has inspected the Long Thanh Airport project site, following the Tet holidays in 2022, 2023, 2024, and September 2024. After inspecting the site, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting with relevant ministries, agencies, and localities.

According to reports at the meeting, from September 2024 (the Prime Minister’s most recent visit to the project) until now, after more than two months, many items and works have achieved large construction volumes.

The agencies have reported to the National Assembly on the approval of the adjustment of the project to supplement the second runway; allowing the implementation period to be extended until December 31, 2026; and authorizing the government to approve the adjusted feasibility report within its competence.

Component Project 2 – the air traffic control tower has completed the reinforced concrete structure and is constructing the expansion of the tower from the 15th floor. Component Project 3 – the passenger terminal has completed 100% of the entire reinforced concrete structure of the work and is carrying out finishing works (main roof fabrication reached 56%, installation reached 35%). The runway has constructed the graded crushed stone and cement concrete base layer by 71.44% and the cement concrete surface by 40.32%… three months ahead of schedule compared to the contract.

Thus, the works and items of the project have basically been implemented according to the schedule, with some items faster than required, especially the works invested by the Airport Corporation (ACV) as the investor (passenger terminal, runway, taxiway, and apron). However, achieving the goal of completing the project in 2025 (earlier than the deadline allowed by the National Assembly) is a very large task, requiring all levels, branches, investors, and contractors to make great efforts to shorten the schedule of the packages.

Regarding transport connections, the Ministry of Transport said that in the first phase, Long Thanh Airport is expected to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo annually, of which 70-80% are international flights. According to the planning, there will be two transport modes connecting to/from Long Thanh Airport, including five road routes and three railway routes.

The road transport routes include: Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway, Ring Road 3 of Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway (these three projects are under construction and expected to be completed in 2025-2026), Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh Expressway (currently operating with four lanes, expected to be expanded to 8-10 lanes), and Ring Road 4 of Ho Chi Minh City (the investment policy has been submitted for approval).

Regarding railway transport, there will be the high-speed North-South railway route from Thu Thiem to Long Thanh (the National Assembly has just approved the investment policy, expected to be started in 2027 and completed in 2035); the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh light rail route is expected to be submitted to the competent authorities for approval in 2025; and the urban railway (Ho Chi Minh City is submitting to the competent authorities for approval of the proposal to mobilize resources to invest synchronously in urban railway routes, including this route).

The shape of the project is becoming clearer

Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh appreciated that the project has achieved many positive results. Overall, the project has completed a large volume of work, and the shape of the project is becoming clearer; many packages have progressed faster than planned, especially Component Projects 2 and 3, with more than 6,000 workers and 2,200 pieces of construction equipment mobilized on the site.

Along with the positive results, land clearance work still has more than 1% to be completed (the clearance of land for transport connections has been completed). Component Project 4 (other works such as cargo terminals) is being implemented slowly, and the Ministry of Transport is selecting investors. Component Project 1 (headquarters of state management agencies), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has not arranged capital and has not completed the approval procedures for the investment policy of the headquarters of the plant and animal quarantine agency.

In the coming time, with the spirit of “clear tasks, clear persons, clear time, clear responsibilities, and clear products,” time, intelligence, and decisiveness at the right time are the keys to success. The Prime Minister requested that all tasks must be completed by December 31, 2025, and Long Thanh Airport must be put into operation before February 28, 2026, to make up for the delayed progress, and there must be no further delays.

Considering that the overall work on the site is still fragmented and not harmonious, the Prime Minister requested that relevant parties rebuild the schedule, work in a rolling manner, organize their work more closely, synchronously, and harmoniously, and mobilize additional human resources, equipment, and the total force of main contractors, subcontractors, and public security and military forces to participate in implementing possible tasks.

The Prime Minister assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to directly guide and work monthly to inspect and urge the implementation of the project. Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh and relevant agencies shall coordinate to implement the assigned tasks and functions, especially the implementation of Component Project 4 to ensure its completion synchronously with Component Project 3 and other component projects.

Regarding the implementation of the second runway, the Ministry of Transport shall base on the resolution of the National Assembly to carry out the necessary procedures and urgently develop and implement a plan for the second runway, ensuring its completion synchronously with Component Project 3 and other component projects.

Along with the progress, it is necessary to inspect and supervise closely to improve quality, ensure labor safety, and technical, artistic, and environmental hygiene, as well as the lives of the people. At the same time, it is necessary to urgently prepare for the implementation of Phase 2 of the Long Thanh International Airport, taking advantage of the available human resources and machinery on the site.

The Prime Minister requested continuing to promote the spirit of patriotism and responsibility to make more efforts and stronger determination, working in the spirit of “overcoming the sun, winning against the rain, and not losing to the wind and storms,” “eating hastily and sleeping urgently,” constructing in “3 shifts and 4 groups,” including holidays and weekends, and “only discussing how to do, not discussing how not to do”; studying and promoting the spirit of “lightning speed” and valuable experiences in the construction of the 500kV power line from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen).

The Prime Minister clearly stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Transport must clearly define responsibilities and inspect and handle those responsible for the slow implementation of Component Project 4 and Component Project 1, reporting to the Prime Minister before December 15.

Also at the meeting, representatives of the agencies discussed and clarified many specific problems related to the implementation of the Long Thanh Airport packages and the transport connection projects.

Regarding the transport infrastructure connections, the Prime Minister basically agreed with the proposals of the agencies, requesting to ensure and expedite the progress of the projects under implementation. The Ministry of Transport shall review and study other transport connection options such as metro, underground railway, or high-speed railway connecting Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat Airports, ensuring the fastest and most effective means, and ensuring that the route and investment capacity are completed in the first quarter of 2025.

Regarding the capital of the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh Expressway, the Prime Minister assigned Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc to directly guide this content and report to the Prime Minister on the direction of handling before December 15, 2024; and complete in December the dossiers to be submitted to the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister agreed in principle with the proposal to upgrade the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh- Dau Giay route to 10 lanes and the proposal to build a tunnel to replace the bridge construction in the Cat Lai area connecting Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City.