New Openings · Ho Chi Minh City 2024–2026
Vietnam’s first underground metro, a 20-million-passenger terminal, a second airport that flew its first jets last December, and the first Hilton flag in the country’s biggest city — Saigon’s opening decade finally arrived.
After 17 years of planning and 12 of construction, Metro Line 1 opened on 22 December 2024: 19.7 km from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien, 14 stations — three of them the country’s first underground stops — and 394,967 riders in the first four free days. Six months in, it had carried 10 million passengers at about 59,000 a day, with 200 daily trips at ¥7,000–20,000 a ride.
The airport followed. Terminal 3 opened on 19 April 2025 — 112,500 m², 26 gates, 20 million passengers a year, built in 20 months for VND 10.99 trillion — lifting Tan Son Nhat to roughly 50 million capacity. All Vietnam Airlines domestic flights moved first; Bamboo, Pacific, VASCO and Vietravel followed in August.
On 19 December 2025 Long Thanh airport held its technical opening — the first Vietnam Airlines charter and technical flights from Vietjet and Bamboo touching down 40 km east of the city. Phase 1 (US$4.6 billion, 25 million passengers) heads for commercial launch in late 2026; the full build-out targets 80–100 million — the largest airport in Southeast Asia.
Hotels tracked the same surge: Hilton Saigon opened its 228 rooms by Me Linh Square as the brand’s city debut, Marriott, Accor and IHG all expanded portfolios, and the city closed 2025 with 8.6 million foreign arrivals and VND 278.6 trillion in tourism revenue — up 43% and 46% on 2024.
The window to ride Vietnam’s first metro while it still feels like a civic holiday is open now — board at Ben Thanh before 8 a.m. and watch the city learn to queue. And book domestic flights carefully for the next year: “SGN” can mean Terminal 1 or the new T3, and they are a long walk apart.
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