Building the second runway at Long Thanh Airport in 7 months

Construction of the second runway of Long Thanh Airport, phase 1, at night. Photo: P.Tung

Withdraw half a year of progress

At the end of March 2025, the Prime Minister approved the adjustment of the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1. In particular, it approved the adjustment and addition of construction of an additional runway in Phase 1 of the project.

Previously, in mid-2024, Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), the investor of Component 3 Project, essential works in the airport sent a report to the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction ), proposing to build a second runway right in phase 1 of the Long Thanh Airport Project.

This proposal was made based on ACV's calculations of the take-off and landing needs for Terminal T1 with a capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo per year. In addition, ACV believes that having 2 runways as backup in case 1 runway has problems is necessary for a large-capacity airport.

Long Thanh Airport's second runway is 4km long and 75m wide. Previously, at the end of April 2025, the first runway (runway number 1) of Long Thanh Airport phase 1 completed construction and technical exploitation, 3 months ahead of schedule compared to the signed contract.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Viet, Deputy General Director of ACV: At the end of May 2025, ACV and the consortium of contractors started construction of the second runway for Long Thanh Airport phase 1. According to the signed contract, the second runway of Long Thanh Airport phase 1 will be completed in June 2026.

However, in the Notice of Conclusion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the meeting to inspect the progress of Long Thanh Airport Project after inspecting the actual construction in early August 2025, issued by the Government Office , the head of the Government requested: by December 19, 2025, all bidding packages and items of the project, including the second runway of Long Thanh Airport, must be completed. Thus, the construction time of the second runway of Long Thanh Airport, phase 1, has been shortened by 6 months compared to the signed contract.

"Work day, work night"

With the shortened construction time, immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, the investor directed the joint venture contractor for the construction of the second runway of Long Thanh Airport, phase 1, to mobilize maximum human resources, machinery and equipment to speed up the construction; at the same time, it must maintain the construction of "3 shifts, 4 teams" to meet the completion progress as required by the Prime Minister.

Workers constructing the second runway of Long Thanh Airport, phase 1. Photo: P.Tung

According to the Executive Board of the consortium for the second runway package, Long Thanh Airport Phase 1: Recently, contractors have been focusing on human resources and equipment, accelerating construction day and night, striving to basically complete the main items of the second runway by the end of 2025, shortening the time by about half a year compared to the signed contract.

Mr. Le Huy Tien, Director of the Joint Venture Management Board of the second runway package, said: Currently, the units have mobilized more than 900 personnel and vehicles, deploying 40 construction teams. At the construction site, the contractor is focusing on digging, making roadbeds and cement concrete.

According to Mr. Tien, in the process of constructing the second runway, contractors need to dig and fill more than 2.7 million m3 of soil, using about 500 thousand m3 of materials (sand, stone). Currently, to speed up the progress and be proactive in the construction process, the contractor has gathered more than 100 thousand m3 of materials to the construction site, mobilized a large number of human resources, machinery, and worked in "3 shifts, 4 teams". "Due to the special importance of the Long Thanh Airport Project, ensuring synchronization in the operation of the items, the relevant units have proposed many solutions, in the near future, they will mobilize an additional 500 human resources and machinery to the construction site, aiming to basically complete the construction of the second runway by the end of this year" - Mr. Le Huy Tien said.

Pham Tung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202508/xay-duong-bang-thu-2-tai-san-bay-long-thanhtrong-7-thang-a8651d1/