With the ever-growing demand for aviation infrastructure, private enterprises are ramping up investments in airport projects across Vietnam. From north to south, a slew of new, expanded, and proposed projects aim to cater to the booming air transport needs.
Venturing beyond real estate, resorts, and commerce, giants like Sun Group, Masterise, and T&T Group are making bold moves into airport projects—an entirely new avenue of investment. These ventures, boasting capital investments ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of billions of VND, are poised to reshape Vietnam’s aviation infrastructure landscape in the coming years.
Illustrative rendering of Van Don International Airport.
Sun Group kicked off the wave of private enterprise involvement in aviation infrastructure with the Van Don International Airport project—the first private venture in this field in Vietnam.
The project spans 325 hectares and carries an investment of approximately 7,700 billion VND. Construction commenced in March 2016, and the airport officially commenced operations in December 2018, welcoming its first commercial flight.
The success of Van Don International Airport not only opened new doors for the aviation industry but also served as a catalyst for many large private corporations to boldly join the airport investment race nationwide.
Following the success at Van Don, Sun Group continued to make its mark in this field with a series of new projects, notably the Gia Binh Airport in Bac Ninh province. In December 2024, the Mobile Police Command (Ministry of Public Security) as the investor organized a groundbreaking ceremony, with Sun Group taking on the role of contractor. The Group’s representative at the ceremony committed to completing the construction of both phases of the airport within 12 months.
In Phu Quoc, the expansion project of the international airport has become a focal point of attention due to the competition between two prominent names: Sun Group and the Pacific Airlines Group (IPPG) of businessman Johnathan Hanh Nguyen.
At the time of the proposal, Sun Group stated that if selected as the investor, the Group committed to investing in Phu Quoc International Airport with the most advanced technology in the world and completing the project within 16-18 months from the completion of site clearance.
Meanwhile, IPPG shared that they had spent three years preparing for the project to build Terminal 2 at Phu Quoc, with the aspiration to transform the “pearl island” into a regional tourism and commercial hub. Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen once shared, “I can build an airport, and others can too. But the core question is, can it be operated efficiently? Can it attract passengers? – I pledge that I can.”
On June 19, the People’s Committee of Kien Giang province (now An Giang province) awarded the decision to Sun Group’s Sun Airport Company Limited as the investor for the Phu Quoc International Airport expansion project.
The project covers an area of 1,050 hectares, increasing the airport’s capacity to 20 million passengers per year (four and a half times the current capacity). The Group is expediting the construction progress to meet the growing transport demand and serve the APEC 2027 conference in Phu Quoc.
In parallel with the ongoing projects, Sun Group is also promoting significant plans. In Khanh Hoa, the Group has proposed to invest in Van Phong International Airport on an area of nearly 500 hectares, with an expected investment of 9,200 billion VND.
In the first phase, the airport is designed to serve 1.5 million passengers annually, located entirely on the coastal water area, without affecting residents, protected forests, mangroves, or relics.
In Lam Dong, a member company of Sun Group has just proposed to invest in the civilian section of Phan Thiet Airport in the form of a business investment, expected to commence on August 19 if approved.
In Quang Ngai, the enterprise plans to invest in Ly Son Airport and tourism-resort real estate projects. In Con Dao, Sun Group recently proposed to sponsor the planning of the airport here…
Alongside Sun Group, many other prominent investors are accelerating their entry into the airport race across the country. In recent times, there has been a succession of new projects being proposed and implemented.
In early August, in Quang Tri, representatives of T&T Group and Capital A proposed to the provincial leaders to invest in the Aviation-Industry Urban Complex, including items such as air transport and logistics centers; aircraft manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, and repair areas; aviation research, training, and testing centers… and mixed-use urban-commercial service areas.
Earlier, in July of last year, the T&T-CIENCO 4 joint venture commenced the construction of Quang Tri Airport with an investment of over 5,800 billion VND, a scale of over 265 hectares, and a capacity of 5 million passengers per year. The project is expected to be put into operation by July 2026.
In December 2024, Mr. Do Quang Hien’s T&T Group continued to venture into the aviation industry, becoming a strategic shareholder of Vietravel Airlines (Vietravel airline). This milestone holds significance for T&T Airlines, T&T SuperPort, and the T&T Group as a whole in the new phase of the enterprise’s development.
In June 2025, Xuan Truong Construction Company proposed permission to invest in and call for the construction of an international airport in the area of the old Nam Dinh province (now Ninh Binh province). Shortly after, in July 2025, the People’s Committee of Ninh Binh province reported a proposal to build Ninh Binh International Airport in Liêm Tuyền ward—a location advantageous for connecting major transportation hubs in the region.
As per the proposed location, this airport will be about 80 km from Noi Bai, 85 km from Cat Bi, 63 km from Gia Binh, and 85 km from Tho Xuan. It is planned to be a grade 4E airport with two parallel runways, covering approximately 720 hectares. The initial design capacity targets 10 million passengers per year, with reserved land for future expansion.
Also, during this period, several prominent names expanded into airport investment, including Masterise Group, which ventured into this field by participating in the proposal for the Gia Binh International Airport project in Bac Ninh province.
The project covers an area of 1,960 hectares, with a designed capacity of about 30 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of cargo per year in the 2021-2030 period; and approximately 50 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of cargo per year in the vision towards 2050. This is the largest airport project in the North in terms of area and scale, with a total expected investment of more than 180,000 billion VND.
At Chu Lai Airport in Da Nang, many “big men” expressed their desire to invest, including SOVICO Group in conjunction with ADANI Group (India)… According to the orientation, Chu Lai Airport will be upgraded to serve about 10 million passengers per year, eight times more than the current 1.2 million, with a total estimated investment of about 11,000 billion VND.
Illustrative rendering of Terminal 2 – Da Nang International Airport.
In addition to the above-mentioned airport construction and expansion projects, another notable project is Terminal 2 of Da Nang International Airport, which marks a historic milestone in Vietnamese aviation as the first privately-owned and operated airport terminal in the country.
The project, invested by the Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation Joint Stock Company (AHT), commenced in 2015 and became operational in 2017. With a total investment of 3,500 billion VND and an area of approximately 52,000 m2, the terminal serves international flights to and from Da Nang.
The birth of Terminal 2 not only elevates Da Nang’s stature on the regional aviation map but also signifies the remarkable progress of the private sector in developing Vietnam’s aviation infrastructure.
During this period, the Pacific Airlines Group (IPPG) of businessman Johnathan Hanh Nguyen and its partners invested in the construction of Terminal 2 (T2) of Cam Ranh International Airport. The project commenced in September 2016, with a total investment of 3,735 billion VND and a design capacity of 8 million international passengers per year by 2030.
After 19 months of construction, Terminal 2 of Cam Ranh International Airport officially commenced operations. This structure not only serves as a modern architectural landmark but also symbolizes the dynamic growth of Vietnam’s aviation industry and Khanh Hoa’s tourism sector.
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