Airport Hub · Tan Son Nhat (SGN) + Long Thanh
Tan Son Nhat just grew to 50-million capacity with Terminal 3, and 40 km east the largest airport in Southeast Asia had its technical opening in December 2025 — Saigon is solving congestion with a second city airport.
Terminal 3 opened 19 April 2025 after just 20 months of construction: 112,500 m², 89 check-in counters, 26 boarding gates, 25 security lanes, 20 million passengers a year — two months ahead of schedule. The terminal is domestic-only; Vietnam Airlines moved first, and by August 2025 Bamboo, Pacific, VASCO and Vietravel had joined, leaving Terminal 1 with the remaining domestic flows and Terminal 2 with all international.
The practical map matters: T3 sits south of the runway, a 15–20-minute shuttle or ride from T1/T2 — there is no airside link. Check your terminal the night before, not at the curb; and note the airport is only 7 km from District 1, so a taxi is 30 minutes in light traffic, an hour in rush.
Long Thanh — US$4.6 billion for phase 1, 5,580 hectares, a 4,000-m runway and a lotus-shaped terminal — flew its first aircraft in September 2025 (calibration), then held a technical opening on 19 December with government charters from Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Bamboo. Commercial service targets late 2026, with army engineering units deployed to keep the date.
The plan is tandem operation: Long Thanh as Vietnam Airlines’ new international hub (and Vietjet’s base), Tan Son Nhat remaining for domestic and regional flows. At full build the new airport reaches 80–100 million passengers — which is why a HCMC–Long Thanh express railway and a metro Line 2 extension are both on the drawing boards.
For 2026 trips, fly into SGN and assume Long Thanh is still a construction site with flights — the 40 km transfer is not yet visitor-ready. Inside SGN, learn the three-terminal geography (T1 domestic legacy, T2 international, T3 domestic new) and your trip will run an hour smoother either way.
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