How do people in Ho Chi Minh City get to Long Thanh airport?

In just two weeks, Long Thanh International Airport will be officially inaugurated. During this period, both Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City are simultaneously speeding up the progress of key traffic routes connecting to the "super airport".

Radically expand highways and national highways

On December 19, when Long Thanh International Airport (HKQT) welcomes the first flight from Noi Bai Airport ( Hanoi ), it is also the day that two main traffic routes connecting from the airport to Ho Chi Minh City area are technically open to traffic. These are two works of component project 3, which started construction in July 2023 with a total investment of more than VND 2,600 billion. Of which, route T1 is 4.3 km long, running straight from the west of Long Thanh airport connecting Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway , National Highway 51 and the end point of Provincial Road 25C. According to the technical design, the route has a design speed of 80 km/h according to urban main road standards. Currently, T1 road towards Long Thanh airport has been basically completed, grass has been planted in the middle of the route to create green space. The intersection of T1 road with National Highway 51 has been basically completed. The connection with Provincial Road 25C is under construction. The final items of the overpass intersection across Bien Hoa - Vung Tau highway are being urgently constructed.

Route T1 connecting National Highway 51 to Long Thanh airport is basically completed and has been technically opened to traffic.

Photo: ACV

Long Thanh Airport is running at full speed

ACV representative informed: Up to now, all construction items of the Long Thanh International Airport construction project phase 1 are being constructed simultaneously by ACV on the entire construction site. The contractor consortium has deployed hundreds of construction teams, mobilized nearly 14,000 experts, engineers, workers, laborers and more than 3,000 construction equipment to accelerate the construction progress compared to the signed contract by 3-6 months, ensuring the basic goal of completing the project before December 19, putting it into operation and commercial exploitation in the first half of 2026 in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister. The project has been invested and constructed according to Level 4F standards (the highest level of the International Civil Aviation Organization - ICAO). This is the core factor emphasizing the role of Long Thanh International Airport on the world aviation map. Level 4F standard affirms that Long Thanh is capable of receiving the largest aircraft types today such as Airbus A380 or Boeing 747-8, serving intercontinental operations with maximum load.

Meanwhile, the 3.5 km long T2 route connecting T1 route to Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway (HLD) is in the final stages of construction. This is a very important route in the traffic system directly connecting to the airport because it not only connects to the main HLD expressway running straight to Ho Chi Minh City but also divides into two independent branches running parallel to Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway. The route is designed to meet expressway standards with a speed of 100 km/h. Currently, the connecting route to HLD expressway is basically completed, while the bridge items connecting to Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway are still being implemented, expected to technically open the entire intersection on December 19.

The two routes T1 and T2 from Long Thanh airport towards Ho Chi Minh City are ready, but the biggest concern now is the two main connecting routes. Specifically, people from the old Ba Ria-Vung Tau area will go to the airport via Highway 51 to enter T1. This is a route with high traffic density, a large number of heavy-duty vehicles, and frequent congestion. Not to mention, the entire route is also in a state of degradation and damage to the roadbed and surface. If a large number of vehicles move to the airport, the congestion will certainly become more serious. That is the reason why, as soon as it took over the management and maintenance of the route in July, the Department of Construction of Dong Nai province urgently made a maintenance plan, submitted it and got it approved by the Provincial People's Committee after only 2 months. Currently, the province has organized a priority bidding to repair about 17.4 km of severely damaged sections, expected to start this month and be completed before the Lunar New Year 2026. In the next phase from 2026, National Highway 51 will continue to repair the remaining damaged sections, about 20 km, to be completed early in the second quarter of 2026.

When completed, Long Thanh airport will have a capacity of 100 million passengers/year and 5 million tons of cargo/year.

Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is facing the risk of slow expansion progress due to sluggish site clearance. As a key route taking people from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh, the project to expand this "snail-like" expressway is being implemented as an emergency construction project, with the basic goal of completion by December 2026. Although it is still 6 months behind the time Long Thanh International Airport is expected to have its first commercial flight, in the first phase, most domestic routes and part of the international flight network are still kept at Tan Son Nhat Airport, so the pressure is not too great. However, nearly 4 months since the start of construction, localities have not been able to complete site clearance as planned. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City has not yet finalized a compensation plan, nor has there been a specific plan and time to hand over all cleared land to the construction contractor. The longer the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is delayed, the more worried Ho Chi Minh City residents will be, because the demand for using the expressway to Long Thanh airport could increase by thousands of trips per day.

In that context, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 is running at full speed to complete in the second quarter of next year, just in time for the "super airport" to be put into commercial operation. The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, at the beginning of the year, had its completion date adjusted to September 30, 2026, but is also trying to concentrate on construction so as not to delay the deadline any further.

Metro priority

Proposal to soon expand phase 2 of Long Thanh airport

To speed up the investment progress of phase 2 of Long Thanh airport, the Government has just proposed that the National Assembly allow the approval of the project's feasibility study report without having to report to the National Assembly for approval. Based on the forecast of transportation demand, the Government said that the feasibility study report of phase 1 of the project has projected the research and investment time of phase 2 (including the third runway and the second passenger terminal) to be from 2028 to 2032. However, with the GDP growth scenario set out from 2026 reaching double digits, the passenger volume through airports, especially Long Thanh, will increase faster than previously forecast.

Therefore, the Government believes that it is necessary to organize investment research for phase 2 earlier than expected. In addition, the investment research for the third runway in phase 2 will take advantage of the available labor, machinery and equipment of the contractors currently constructing, saving time and costs, shortening progress, minimizing dust and noise caused by construction activities...

At the same time, Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV) has just submitted a document to the Ministry of Construction proposing the policy of assigning ACV as the investor of phase 2 of the Long Thanh International Airport Project.

The reason is that ACV is the investor of component project 3 "Essential works in the airport implemented by the airport operator". This unit has been investing in the construction of the entire airport infrastructure, the general infrastructure of Long Thanh airport and is the operator according to regulations. ACV's continued investment in phase 2 of the project aims to ensure consistency and synchronization in investment, development, exploitation and operation of the largest airport in the country; ensure the principle of one airport - one operator; enhance autonomy and absolute synchronization of the ICT technology platform between the two phases.

The road system will be the main connecting axis to bring Ho Chi Minh City residents to Long Thanh airport in the initial phase of operation. However, Ho Chi Minh City has determined that with the scenario of transferring all international flights from Tan Son Nhat airport to Long Thanh, which the Ministry of Construction has approved, only railways can handle the huge travel demand.

In a new report sent to the Ministry of Construction, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction said that the city is prioritizing investment in the railway line connecting Tan Son Nhat with Long Thanh airport. Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee is carrying out procedures to appraise and approve the feasibility study report, supplement and update the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line into an urban railway in the local planning. At the same time, carrying out procedures to report to the People's Councils of the two localities to agree to assign the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee as the competent authority and consider assigning the investor (Truong Hai Group) to study and deploy the Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem and Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway lines under the form of public-private partnership (PPP). This is one of the "nail" railway lines, serving high-speed passenger transport from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to the airport, with an estimated time of only about 20 - 25 minutes.

Runway at Long Thanh airport worth 7,308 billion VND

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, this railway has a basic route along the HLD expressway corridor and Ring Road 3 (which has been planned and is mainly vacant land). In Dong Nai province, the route goes into the median strip along Provincial Road 25B, which is generally favorable for site clearance and can be implemented quickly. The project is expected to be completed in 2030.

In addition, the project has favorable conditions for the earliest implementation of the route connecting Tan Son Nhat airport - Long Thanh airport via metro line 2 (Tham Luong - Ben Thanh, Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem). Currently, the Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section (about 12 km) has basically completed site clearance, expected to start construction in January 2026 and be completed before 2032. The short Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section (about 6 km) is expected to have an underground route along the road boundaries of major traffic axes such as Ham Nghi and Mai Chi Tho streets, convenient for site clearance work, and can be implemented quickly.

In addition, the metro line No. 1 extension to Long Thanh airport has 2 sections under consideration for investment proposals. Previously, the joint venture of investors DonaCoop Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company and VinaCapital Group officially proposed to the People's Committee of Dong Nai province the route plan for the project to extend the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line to Tran Bien - Long Thanh International Airport. This is one of the urgent projects that the People's Committee of Dong Nai province is promoting to speed up procedures, striving to complete the selection of investors in 2026 and start construction in 2027.

Shorten procedures, speed up metro and bus

Experts affirm that in the story of effectively exploiting Long Thanh International Airport, the connecting transport system plays a decisive role. An advantage is that instead of being stuck in the capital problem as before, all the above railway projects have had private enterprises propose to participate as EPC general contractors or direct investors. Therefore, the leaders of Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City are urging specialized agencies to quickly agree on plans with investors and implement procedures to soon start construction of the projects.

Most businesses commit to only building within 2-4 years/route if the proposal is approved, this is a record time. However, normally, preparation work such as project establishment, design, site clearance, relocation of technical infrastructure, selection of consultants and construction contractors will also take about 1-2 years.

Prof. Dr. Vo Xuan Vinh, Director of the Institute of Business Research (University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City), expressed regret that the railway connection projects had only begun to start when Long Thanh airport was about to be put into operation. According to him, many countries in the world also developed airports far from the city or a city maintained two large airports. However, the key is traffic connection, in which a metro and bus network must be available. Most of the airports located far from the city center such as Narita (Japan), Incheon (Korea), Charles De Gaulle (France), Frankfurt (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands) ... have developed a synchronous transport system with convenient and fast multi-modal connections. In particular, railway connection plays an extremely important role in providing a fast, convenient, reliable connection method (no traffic jams like roads), transporting large quantities at low cost.

"At this time, when the airport is about to be operational, the roads are still unfinished and there are no railway lines, which is too difficult. The Central Government and the two localities need to act quickly, possibly issue special mechanisms, especially shortening procedures as much as possible, taking advantage of the ability to rapidly deploy projects of the private sector to soon complete the railway lines connecting to Long Thanh airport," Professor, Dr. Vo Xuan Vinh proposed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-dan-tphcm-den-san-bay-long-thanh-bang-duong-nao-18525120422315346.htm