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Long Thanh Airport Opening Date: ACV Sets 00:00 on 24 December 2026 — What Actually Opens, and What Doesn’t
Short answer: Long Thanh International Airport is expected to begin operating at 00:00 on 24 December 2026. That date comes from letter 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC, dated 29 October 2026, in which Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) notified the Dong Nai authorities of the expected start of operations and asked them to help coordinate. It is the most specific date anyone has put in writing so far — 23 days later than the 1 December milestone in the roadmap the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam approved in late July 2026.
The part that matters more than the date: what opens on 24 December is small. Phase one runs at up to 366 flights a week — 322 domestic and 44 international, roughly six international departures a day. Long-haul routes to Europe, North America and Australia are not scheduled to move across until 28 March 2027. Realtique compiled this from ACV’s own letter, the approved transfer roadmap and Vietnamese press reporting, because the gap between “the airport opens” and “the airport is busy with international traffic” is exactly where property pitches around Long Thanh tend to overreach.
Long Thanh Airport — Quick Facts, 3 November 2026
Table of contents
What ACV’s Letter Actually Says — and What It Carefully Does Not
The document is letter No. 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC from Airports Corporation of Vietnam – JSC, headed “On notifying the time for bringing Long Thanh International Airport into operation”. It is dated 29 October 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City and signed by Deputy General Director To Tu Ha on behalf of the General Director. Vietnamese outlets reported it on 30 October, so the “30 October” you will see in most coverage is the publication date, not the signing date.
It opens by citing two Prime Ministerial decisions: Decision 1777/QD-TTg of 11 November 2020, approving the Long Thanh phase-1 investment project, and Decision 692/QD-TTg of 29 March 2025, approving the adjustment to that project. The operative sentence is short: ACV notifies the Dong Nai People’s Committee of the expected time for bringing the airport into operation, from 00:00 on 24 December 2026 (local time), and asks the Committee to direct relevant agencies to coordinate and support ACV within their remit.
Three things the letter does not do. It does not announce the date the aerodrome operating certificate will be granted. It does not publish a flight schedule. And it does not promise the date will hold — the word expected sits in the notification sentence itself. Copies went to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, ACV’s Board of Directors and Board of Management, the technical and environment department together with Long Thanh airport, and ACV’s project management unit. Reported by Vietnam Government News, 30 Oct 2026, Tuoi Tre, 30 Oct 2026, CafeF, 30 Oct 2026 and VietnamPlus, 30 Oct 2026.
Three Official Answers to “When Does Long Thanh Open?” — and Why They Don’t Conflict
Three different bodies have given three different-sounding answers over the past four months. They are not contradictory; they differ in how binding they are.
| Source | Milestone given | When stated |
|---|---|---|
| Operating roadmap approved by the Civil Aviation Authority on ACV’s proposal | 1 December 2026 — start of phase 1 | Late July 2026 |
| ACV Deputy General Director, speaking to press | “In December; possibly before Christmas” | 17 September 2026 |
| ACV letter 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC to Dong Nai | 00:00, 24 December 2026 | Dated 29 October 2026 |
How Realtique reads it. The 24 December date slips 23 days past the 1 December roadmap milestone and lands precisely inside the “possibly before Christmas” phrasing used in September. So the letter confirms a mild drift that was already visible rather than springing a surprise. It is still an expected date: a commercial flight needs an aerodrome operating certificate plus environmental, aviation-security and aeronautical-information procedures, and reporting indicates those remain to be completed across November and December 2026 (Vietstock, 30 Oct 2026).
What Opens on 24 December: A West Wing, Four Check-In Islands, 44 International Flights a Week
This is the number that most property marketing will skip. In the first phase the airport runs at a maximum of 366 flights a week — 322 domestic and 44 international. That is roughly 20 to 30 movements a day, and only about six international departures a day. Against Long Thanh’s phase-1 design capacity, that is in the order of 6% to 10% of what the terminal is built to handle.
Physically, only part of the building opens. From December 2026 to March 2027 the passenger terminal is expected to operate its west wing and central area, with four check-in islands in use. A portion of cargo terminal 1, handling domestic freight, is also expected to open from 24 December. (Bao Xay Dung, 30 Oct 2026; CafeF, 30 Oct 2026.)
Graphic: Realtique · Data: ACV letter 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC, 29 October 2026
Construction stands at over 86% by contract value, with 12 of the 16 main packages still under construction. The split matters: airside works are close to finished, while the passenger-facing systems — equipment installation inside the terminal above all — have been the slower half throughout 2026.
“Operating” Is Not “Full of International Passengers”: the Transfer Runs to 2028
If you are weighing property anywhere along the Long Thanh corridor, this section matters more than the opening date. The transfer of flights from Tan Son Nhat is staged, and the Civil Aviation Authority approved it in three phases on ACV’s proposal (VnExpress, 29 Jul 2026):
- Phase 1 — 1 December 2026 to 27 March 2027 (now starting 24 December): international carriers move to Long Thanh voluntarily, as demand suits them.
- Phase 2 — 28 March 2027 to 29 October 2027: all long-haul international flights — Europe, North America, Australia — are scheduled to shift across.
- Phase 3 — from 2028: the remaining redistribution between the two airports.
So the first three months are a soft opening with thin international traffic. The real step-change in demand for housing, rentals and services around the airport — aviation professionals, logistics staff, support services — arrives in stages across 2027 and 2028, not in the weeks around December 2026.
What This Means If You Are Buying Near Long Thanh
1. Do not price property off an opening day. “The airport opens in December” will appear in a great deal of fourth-quarter sales material. The roadmap above says the demand effect arrives in steps through 2027 and 2028. A sensible horizon for a purchase on the Long Thanh corridor is three to five years, not three to five months.
2. Measure in travel time, not kilometres. “X km from the airport” is the weakest claim in a brochure, because it says nothing about which connecting road is finished. What changes your actual commute is the state of the expressway and ring-road links — check those individually rather than trusting a distance figure.
3. Foreign ownership rules do not change because an airport opens. Foreign buyers remain subject to the usual framework: a cap of 30% of the apartments in any one building, 50-year ownership with renewal under the regulations, and the project’s remaining foreign quota. An airport milestone changes none of that, and any project near Long Thanh still has to be checked on its own paperwork.
4. The certificate is the milestone to watch, not the press release. Until the aerodrome operating certificate is issued, 24 December remains an expectation. That document, not a ribbon-cutting, is what makes commercial flights lawful.
Related reading: how Dong Nai is positioning itself as an Asia-Pacific aviation hub, and our area-by-area guide to buying in Ho Chi Minh City.
Frequently asked questions
When does Long Thanh airport open?
ACV letter 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC, dated 29 October 2026, notified the Dong Nai authorities that Long Thanh International Airport is expected to be brought into operation from 00:00 on 24 December 2026, local time. That is the most specific date put in writing so far, and it is 23 days later than the 1 December 2026 milestone in the roadmap the Civil Aviation Authority approved in late July 2026. It remains an expected date: the airport still needs an aerodrome operating certificate and other sector procedures before commercial flights can operate.
Which flights will actually use Long Thanh from December 2026?
In the first phase the airport runs at a maximum of 366 flights a week — 322 domestic and 44 international, roughly 20 to 30 movements a day and about six international departures a day. International carriers move across voluntarily during phase 1. All long-haul international flights to Europe, North America and Australia are scheduled to transfer only from 28 March 2027, with further redistribution from 2028.
Will Tan Son Nhat close when Long Thanh opens?
No. The approved roadmap distributes flights between the two airports in stages rather than closing either. Tan Son Nhat continues to operate, and during the first phase it still handles the overwhelming majority of traffic, including most international departures.
Can foreigners buy property near Long Thanh airport?
The airport milestone does not change foreign-ownership rules. Foreign buyers are subject to the usual framework: up to 30% of the apartments in any one building may be foreign-owned, ownership runs 50 years with renewal under the regulations, and the specific project must still have foreign quota available. Landed property and land-use rights follow different and tighter rules. Each project has to be checked on its own paperwork rather than on its distance from the airport.
Is 24 December 2026 a firm date?
No. ACV’s own letter uses the word “expected”, and the letter does not state when the aerodrome operating certificate will be issued. Earlier milestones for this project — including December 2025 targets and the 1 December 2026 roadmap date — have all moved. Treat 24 December 2026 as the current plan from the investor, and watch for the operating certificate as the signal that it is becoming firm.
⚠️ Please note: 00:00 on 24 December 2026 is an expected time notified by ACV to the Dong Nai authorities in letter 4098/TCTCHKVN-KTC dated 29 October 2026; the airport still requires an aerodrome operating certificate and other sector procedures before commercial flights. The 1 December 2026 milestone, the three trial-operation rounds of September to November 2026, the 20–30 flights a day figure and the flight-transfer roadmap running to 2028 are all plans and orientations published by ACV, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and the Ministry of Construction, and may be adjusted. This article compiles mainstream Vietnamese reporting and the text of ACV’s letter; it is not legal, financial or investment advice.
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