Long Thanh International Airport is scheduled to open for commercial flights in December 2026, roughly 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province. A ceremonial technical launch took place on 19 December 2025, when the first official flight — VN1 — landed on the new runway. As of mid-2026, construction stands at around 64 percent complete, with trial operations planned from September through November before the commercial opening. If you are booking a trip to southern Vietnam for December 2026 or later, here is what the new airport means for your arrival.
Why Ho Chi Minh City Needed a Second International Airport
Tan Son Nhat, the city’s current international gateway, has been running above its design capacity for years. Passport control queues stretch long on busy arrival waves, terminal space is packed on weekends, and the road out of the airport turns into a bottleneck during peak hours. The airport simply was not built for the volume of traffic southern Vietnam now sees.
Long Thanh is designed to take pressure off the existing hub. The plan separates traffic by distance: Long Thanh handles long-haul routes from Europe, Australia, and the Americas, while Tan Son Nhat keeps regional routes across Asia. Both airports will operate simultaneously — your ticket will show which one you land at.
IATA code for Long Thanh: LTH.
When Commercial Flights Actually Begin at Long Thanh
The airport held its technical opening ceremony on 19 December 2025, confirming that the runway and main apron could handle real aircraft. That event was not a passenger launch — it was an infrastructure milestone to validate the construction phase.
The timeline from there:
- December 2025 — technical opening ceremony, calibration flights
- Mid-2026 — construction approximately 64% complete, 180-day acceleration campaign underway
- September–November 2026 — trial operations with real flights to test passenger flow, baggage handling, and border control
- December 2026 — first scheduled commercial flights
New airport openings do shift. Always confirm the departure and arrival airport on your actual ticket before you travel — booking sites occasionally display outdated information.
Getting From Long Thanh to Ho Chi Minh City
At opening, road will be the only practical option. The Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway is the main link, and an expansion to 8–10 lanes is expected to complete around December 2026. Depending on traffic, expect 45 minutes to 90 minutes to central Ho Chi Minh City.
Rail is planned but comes later. A Thu Thiem–Long Thanh urban railway and a high-speed rail connection are both in the project pipeline, realistically targeting around 2030. At opening, passengers will rely on taxis, airport shuttles, and ride-hailing services via the expressway.
Practical note: transfers from Long Thanh into the city will cost more than an equivalent Tan Son Nhat run, simply because of the distance. Budget accordingly and arrange pickup in advance — early months at a new terminal typically mean unpredictable taxi availability at the kerb.
For travellers staying in the city, Long Thanh is also a factor if you plan a visa run from Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City. Border crossings remain the most common renewal option for long-stay visitors, since the new airport does not change the land-border routes in the north or the Cambodian crossings in the south. For a done-for-you version, see our Vietnam e-visa 90 days page.
Your Vietnam E-Visa at Long Thanh Airport
Vietnam’s e-visa is only valid at ports of entry officially listed by the Immigration Department. Long Thanh is not on that list today because it has not yet opened to commercial passengers. Once commercial flights begin in December 2026, the airport will be added to the approved port-of-entry list.
What this means for you: any valid Vietnam e-visa will work at Long Thanh after the commercial opening, the same way it currently works at Tan Son Nhat. You do not need a separate or specially endorsed e-visa for the new airport.
Standard e-visa processing takes up to three business days. Errors in the application — mismatched passport name, wrong date of birth, incorrect passport number — are the primary cause of refusals. The government fee is non-refundable on a rejection, which makes getting the details right the first time important. Many travellers choose to have the application handled by a professional service rather than risk a refusal close to departure. If you want to understand the form before submitting, the Vietnam e-visa application walkthrough covers every field in detail.
If you want your Vietnam e-visa sorted without the back-and-forth, we handle the whole process end-to-end. Message us on Telegram — we confirm the same day and check every field before submission.
