Long Thanh super airport sprints to the finish line

The most important items have been basically completed, Long Thanh airport is sprinting towards the goal of welcoming the first technical flight on December 19, marking an important milestone for the largest aviation infrastructure project in Vietnam.

Thousands of workers "racing to meet progress"

Chairing a recent meeting of the State Steering Committee for important national projects and works, key to the transport sector, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the role and special significance of the Long Thanh International Airport (HKQT) project. According to the head of the Government, with only about 2 months left in 2025, the construction volume is very large. Therefore, ministries, agencies, and governing bodies, especially the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), need to urgently find appropriate solutions to increase the construction volume at the site (striving to reach over 20% per month). At the same time, strictly control quality, labor safety, organize construction reasonably and scientifically , especially component project 3 (passenger terminal) and component project 4 (service construction items); report weekly to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha. The target to be achieved is to organize the first technical flight on December 19.

Talking to Thanh Nien, ACV representative said: At the construction site these days, all packages are being organized for construction simultaneously in accordance with the spirit of "overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain, not losing to the storm", "3 shifts, 4 shifts", "through holidays, through Tet, through holidays" of the Prime Minister . For the port infrastructure item, the construction, installation of equipment and design of construction drawings for the construction of runways, taxiways, aircraft parking lots (cargo terminal, hangar, isolation) and other works, the joint venture contractor has mobilized 2,084 personnel and 319 pieces of equipment and machinery to carry out the construction. To date, the runway item has been basically completed. On September 26, Long Thanh airport officially welcomed the first calibration flight as planned, marking an important technical milestone in the roadmap to basically complete the project before December 19.

Long Thanh Airport is under urgent construction, working day and night to finish on schedule.

PHOTO: ACV

For the equipment installation and construction drawing design of the passenger terminal aircraft parking lot, more than 1,780 engineers and workers with hundreds of equipment were mobilized, taking full advantage of the weather to carry out the construction. In September, the rainy weather (21/30 days) greatly affected the construction progress of underground items such as roadbeds, drainage culverts, especially the technical tunnel system with deep foundation pits. "Recognizing the unfavorable weather factors, the Project Management Board directed the joint venture contractor to apply construction measures during the rainy season (rolling construction, pumping, drainage...) to regain progress. Up to now, the items in this package have had many changes. In the coming time, we will direct and request contractors to continue to strengthen the adherence to progress and be determined to basically complete the package before December 19," said an ACV representative.

In particular, key items such as the traffic roads connecting T1, T2, CHC No. 2, the aircraft parking lot and the area in front of the passenger terminal - where the inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 19 - have reached 90% of the total construction volume. Currently, the contractor is actively implementing the construction of traffic safety items, trees, lighting... with the goal of completing all of them this November.

The most important items of the Long Thanh airport project have been basically completed.

PHOTO: ACV

In total, on the large construction site of more than 5,000 hectares, nearly 14,000 engineers, workers, experts, along with about 3,000 modern equipment, are working day and night. To date, 3/15 packages have been completed, 12 packages are being implemented at high intensity. Notably, many packages have been shortened compared to the contract by 3-5 months. This demonstrates the determination to complete technical milestones before December 19.

Still waiting for final plan to transfer flight route

On the other hand, the transfer of flight routes from Tan Son Nhat to Long Thanh is still in disarray. In early October, the Ministry of Construction reported to the Government on the plan to exploit Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Long Thanh International Airport in phase 1. Specifically, Long Thanh airport will operate 80% of international flights and 10% of domestic flights; Tan Son Nhat airport will operate 20% of international flights and 90% of domestic flights.

After that, Vietnam Airlines (VNA) issued a document requesting that in the initial phase of operation, it and other domestic airlines be allowed to proactively and flexibly plan their operations. The reason is that in the context of the aircraft resources of Vietnamese airlines facing many difficulties due to engine recalls by manufacturers and the disruption of the global supply chain, if all flights over 1,000 km are immediately transferred to Long Thanh airport, it will severely affect the plans of the airlines. VNA alone is expected to have to add about 5 narrow-body aircraft just to maintain the current flight schedule.

CHC No. 1 has been basically completed, preparing to welcome the first technical flight on December 19.

PHOTO: ACV

In its response, ACV expressed concern that if domestic airlines hesitate to transfer operations to Long Thanh on schedule, there will be potential risks. IAC Consulting's analysis said that if international routes are not concentrated at Long Thanh airport, the flight network will be fragmented, causing Vietnamese airlines to lose market share to foreign airlines and output could decrease by up to 8.8%, equivalent to losing more than 2 million passengers per year in the initial stages of operation. In the long term, it could cause a delay of 8-9 years in the growth of passenger output at Long Thanh Port.

From the above analysis, ACV supports VNA's proposal to have a reasonable conversion roadmap in accordance with the planning, in accordance with aircraft resources and operating conditions. However, it is necessary to establish a specific time frame and a clear conversion direction for international flight groups, especially Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.

Up to now, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and the Ministry of Construction have not had any further information on the opinions of the above units. In the context that the project is approaching the finish line, the leaders of ACV requested the Ministry of Construction and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to soon agree on the policy of building a roadmap for transferring operations from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Long Thanh International Airport. At the same time, soon issue a roadmap for transferring operations, as a basis for ACV, airlines and related agencies and units to develop a transfer plan, prepare adequate and synchronous resources, ensure the progress of exploiting Long Thanh International Airport on schedule, safely and effectively.

Urgent need for connecting transport infrastructure

At this time, the thing that people in Ho Chi Minh City in particular and the South in general are most concerned about is the traffic connection between the two airports as well as the connection between Long Thanh airport and the city. Because if all international flights are transferred to Long Thanh, the most affected subjects will be passengers. In fact, the transfer of operations between the two airports as well as the efficiency of Long Thanh depends a lot on the traffic infrastructure system connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Nai. If from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Tan Son Nhat is about 8 - 10 km, then to Long Thanh airport is about 40 km. On the other hand, Ho Chi Minh City has the largest number of people using airplanes in the South because this is the economic and commercial center and is the place with many high-income people, with the largest demand for air travel in the country. With the two main connecting roads, National Highway 51 and Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, both currently overloaded, even if we "force" international flights to move to Long Thanh airport, it will still be ineffective and cause a lot of inconvenience to the people.

That is why Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha this week to directly inspect and urge agencies to promptly resolve problems and speed up the expressways connecting to Long Thanh airport.

Nearly 14,000 engineers, workers and experts, along with about 3,000 pieces of equipment, are being mobilized to work simultaneously day and night.

PHOTO: ACV

Three key expressways are being accelerated: Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay, Ben Luc - Long Thanh and Ring Road 3. Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway expansion project is being implemented as an urgent construction project, with the basic goal of completion by December 2026, 6 months after the time Long Thanh is expected to have its first commercial flight. Long Thanh Bridge alone will be completed in December 2026 and the remaining items will be completed in March 2027. Similarly, Ring Road 3 is running at full speed to be completed in the second quarter of next year. At the beginning of the year, Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway also adjusted the completion time to September 30, 2026 to ensure the completion time of Phuoc Khanh cable-stayed bridge.

Meanwhile, a series of railway and metro connection projects have yet to start. At the earliest, it will take 4-5 years from the time Long Thanh airport is put into operation for a railway connection to the center of Ho Chi Minh City.

This is also ACV's biggest concern in preparing for the operation of Long Thanh super port. ACV representatives recommended that the Government, the Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries, branches and localities accelerate investment progress and complete road traffic projects (including expressways, ring roads, Long Thanh 2 and Cat Lai bridges) and railways connecting to Long Thanh Port as soon as possible. Along with that, organize synchronous public transport and logistics infrastructure. For example, organize bus rapid transit (BRT) routes and shuttle buses; research and build separate routes and freight transport corridors, connecting the Long Thanh International Airport - the seaport system (Cai Mep - Thi Vai, Cat Lai) - industrial parks and logistics zones in Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City, in order to reduce traffic volume on the general road system, ensuring safety, smoothness and operational efficiency.

Before the G hour of technical operation to prepare for commercial operation in early 2026, Long Thanh super airport, airlines and passengers are still in a state of excitement and anxiety. Because if we want the airport to maximize its efficiency, convenience and utility must still be put first, in which connecting traffic plays the most important role.

According to the plan, Dong Nai will simultaneously deploy many large-scale traffic projects towards Long Thanh airport. The list includes key projects such as Cat Lai bridge connecting Thu Duc city (old) with Nhon Trach district (old), Long Hung bridge and Ring Road 4 (section through Dong Nai), the connecting route from Ma Da bridge to Ring Road 4, the elevated route along National Highway 51, Huong Lo 2 project (section 2), extending the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line to the new administrative center and Long Thanh airport, upgrading and expanding provincial roads 769, 773 and 770B. These projects are expected to complete the inter-regional traffic network, reduce the load on existing roads and increase accessibility to Long Thanh airport.

According to a report from the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), up to now, the overall progress of the works serving air traffic management at Long Thanh International Airport has been strictly controlled and closely followed the plan. The contractor is aiming to complete all preparations for the technical flight on December 19, as well as ensuring synchronous operation with other component projects. Many key items have been basically completed. In particular, the DVOR/DME navigation system and primary and secondary surveillance radar (PSR/SSR) have been installed and successfully calibrated, fully meeting the technical standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The items of the transmitting station, receiving station and ADS-B dependent surveillance are also making good progress, ready to be put into trial operation in November.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sieu-san-bay-long-thanh-chay-nuoc-rut-ve-dich-185251109205918325.htm