Vietnam’s $1.5bn Long Thanh Airport and Other Projects

Kevin Rozario

London

May 21, 2022

mod vietnam long thanh airport exterior

An aerial view of the planned terminal at Long Thanh International Airport.

© Heerim Architects

At the end of April, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Lê Văn Thành inspected the progress of site preparations and construction of Long Thanh International Airport, a project green-lighted by the government in January 2021.

The southern gateway—the most expensive infrastructure project ever in Vietnam at $1.5 billion but part of a wider $16 billion airports push—is scheduled to open its first phase by around 2025 according to some local reports. The final phase is expected to be completed in 2050.

Long Thanh is approximately 25 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province and, at its maximum capacity, will be able to handle 100 million passengers. It is designed to replace the existing over-stretched Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN), the IATA code reflecting Ho Chi Minh’s former name of Saigon. Pre-pandemic SGN was handling traffic approaching the 40 million mark, well above its designed capacity of 25 million.

The visit was auspicious in that the Deputy PM spent some time articulating the government’s view of the project and the use of external contractors and consultants. The airport operator is Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), technically a joint-stock company but with 95.4% of its shares state-owned.

mod vietnam deputy PM

The Deputy Prime Minister inspects Long Thanh Airport plans on-site.

© Airports Corporation of Vietnam

Arup, which has developed a close relationship with ACV, was awarded a civil and structural engineering consultancy contract for the design stage last year. A PPP tender for the construction of the airport terminal—conceived by South Korea’s Heerim Architects in the shape of a lotus, Vietnam’s national flower—is expected later this year and it should attract a number of bidders.

Though it is at a very early stage, pile driving for the passenger terminal has begun, and at the inspection, Lê Văn Thành praised the efforts of ACV and its contractors and said he was pleased that the project has moved forward given its national importance. More details on the timeline and his comments can be found below.

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