Building a second runway for Long Thanh Airport

Construction of Runway No. 2, Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1. Photo: P.Tung

Immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, contractors focused on mobilizing machinery and human resources to speed up construction progress in order to complete the project early in sync with the entire Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1.

Applying the contractor selection mechanism in special cases

In July 2024, in a report sent to the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction ), Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), the investor of Component 3, Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, proposed adjustments to the project. In particular, ACV proposed to build a second runway (runway number 3) right in phase 1 of the Long Thanh Airport Project. This proposal is based on ACV's calculations of the take-off and landing needs to serve Terminal T1 with a capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo/year. In addition, ACV believes that having 2 runways as backup in case one runway has problems is also necessary for a large-capacity airport.

Previously, in early 2024, in the audit report on construction activities and management and use of investment capital for Component Project 3 - construction of essential works in the airport of Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, the State Audit recommended that the investor study and promptly report to the competent authority on the implementation of investment in runway No. 2 to ensure continuous operation of the airport when it comes into operation.

According to Decision No. 1777/QD-TTg (dated November 11, 2020) approving the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, the project has an investment scale of a passenger terminal with a capacity to serve 25 million passengers per year, a runway, an air traffic control tower about 123m high and other related works.

In response to the investor's proposal, the authorities and the Government have carried out procedures to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the adjustment of the investment policy for the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1. In November 2024, at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly , the National Assembly approved the adjustment of the investment policy for the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1 in Resolution No. 174/2024/QH15. Accordingly, the project will be expanded with a new runway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

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.

According to ACV, after the National Assembly approved the adjustment of the project investment policy and the Prime Minister approved the adjustment of the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, the unit urgently carried out procedures to quickly start construction of the second runway.

On May 30, 2025, ACV and the consortium of contractors started construction of the second runway for Long Thanh Airport phase 1. "To meet the progress as directed by the Prime Minister, ACV has applied the mechanism of selecting contractors for the second runway in special situations" - said an ACV representative.

Complete in sync with the project

According to the Prime Minister's decision approving the adjustment of the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, the second runway of Long Thanh Airport Phase 1 will have the same scale as the completed runway No. 1 with a length of 4km and a width of 75m; at the same time, an additional AWOS equipment system and auxiliary equipment for the second runway will be added to the Component 2 Project implemented in Phase 1 of the project.

Regarding progress, the Prime Minister requested to complete the passenger terminal project in sync with the schedule and put it into operation in June 2026.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Viet, Deputy General Director in charge of ACV, implementing the Prime Minister's request, ACV aims to complete the second runway to synchronize with the passenger terminal to put Long Thanh Airport into operation on schedule in the first half of 2026. "In order to meet the progress requirements, immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, the joint venture contractor immediately took position, mobilized equipment, material laboratory and skilled engineers and workers to be ready for construction, speeding up the progress" - Mr. Nguyen Tien Viet said.

Pham Tung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202506/xay-duong-bang-thu-2-cho-san-bay-long-thanh-ef50a69/