Long Thanh International Airport 2026: What Travelers Need to Know

Is Long Thanh open yet?

Not for regular passengers. As of 2026, Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province is still under construction. Completed work reached about 74 percent of the contract value by late March 2026, and a successful test flight took place in September 2025. A test flight is a construction milestone, not the start of scheduled service, so you cannot book a commercial flight there yet.

The stated goal is to begin commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2026. Large airport projects often shift their timelines, so treat that as a target rather than a fixed date. If you are traveling in 2026, plan as if Long Thanh is not yet available to you.

Where it is and how far from the city

Long Thanh sits in Dong Nai Province, about 40 kilometers east of central Ho Chi Minh City. That is farther out than Tan Son Nhat, which is inside the city itself. Once the airport opens, ground transfer time will depend on traffic and on which road connections are finished, so exact travel times are not yet something you can rely on. When you eventually have a ticket that uses Long Thanh, budget extra time to and from the city and confirm your transport options closer to the date.

What it is planned to change

Long Thanh is being built in phases. The first phase is designed to handle roughly 25 million passengers per year, and the full three-phase design aims for an ultimate capacity of 100 million passengers per year. That makes it much larger than Tan Son Nhat, which has been operating well beyond comfortable capacity for years.

The plan is for Long Thanh to gradually take over a large share of the international long-haul flights that Tan Son Nhat handles today. This is an expectation, not a finished fact. How quickly airlines move specific routes, and which flights move first, will be decided over time. Until your airline tells you otherwise, do not assume any particular flight has moved.

Which airport will you use in 2026?

For the great majority of trips in 2026, the answer is Tan Son Nhat (SGN). It remains the working international and domestic gateway for Ho Chi Minh City. Even after Long Thanh opens for commercial service, the shift of flights is expected to happen gradually rather than all at once.

The reliable way to know which airport you are using is simple: read your own ticket.

• Look at the arrival and departure airport codes on your booking confirmation and boarding pass.
• SGN is Tan Son Nhat. If your ticket shows SGN, that is where you land or depart.
• If you ever see a different code for Ho Chi Minh City on a future booking, confirm it directly with your airline before you travel.
• When schedules are in transition, the airline and your ticket are the authority, not general news reports.

Short timeline

When	Milestone
September 2025	Successful test flight conducted
Late March 2026	About 74 percent of contract value completed
Fourth quarter 2026	Target for start of commercial operation
Later phases	Further construction toward the full 100 million passenger design capacity

What to watch before you book

• The airport code on your ticket. This is the single most important detail. It tells you exactly where you fly in and out.
• Airline notices. If a route moves to Long Thanh, your airline will inform you. Read schedule-change emails carefully.
• Your transfer plan. A city-center hotel is close to Tan Son Nhat but farther from Long Thanh. If a future trip uses Long Thanh, plan more transfer time.
• Timeline updates. Opening dates for major airports can move. Do not assume a firm date until service is actually running and bookable.

For now, the calm summary is this: keep planning around Tan Son Nhat for 2026, keep an eye on the transition expected around late 2026 into 2027, and let your ticket be the final word on which airport you use.