Ho Chi Minh City gets its second airport on December 1, 2026. That is the date the Airports Corporation of Vietnam is working toward for the first commercial flights at Long Thanh International Airport, the new gateway being built 40 kilometers east of the city in Dong Nai province. After years of delays and a ceremonial opening in December 2025, this one looks real: construction is set to finish in September 2026, with trial operations running monthly from September through November before passengers arrive.
Long Thanh has the airport code LTH and it changes how people think about flying in and out of Saigon. It will not replace Tan Son Nhat, which keeps operating. Instead the two airports split the traffic, with Long Thanh taking the long-haul international flights that Tan Son Nhat no longer has room for and eventually growing toward 100 million passengers a year at full build.
Why does a visa run website care about an airport? Because a lot of what we write about involves airports somewhere. Fly-out visa runs start and end at one. First-time e-visa holders arrive at one. Expats who overstay and fly home leave from one. The Saigon-Phnom Penh and Saigon-Bangkok runs that this site covers are flights out of Tan Son Nhat, and the airport shuffle decides whether that stays true.
This page covers the opening timeline, which flights move and which stay put, how to get between Long Thanh and the city, and what the paperwork looks like for arrivals at the new airport. The short version for most visitors: nothing changes for Moc Bai land runs, and your Bangkok or Phnom Penh visa-run flight stays at Tan Son Nhat for now. Long-haul flying is where the shift happens.
Long Thanh in Numbers: What Opens First
Long Thanh sits in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province, about 40 kilometers east of central Ho Chi Minh City. For scale, Tan Son Nhat is roughly 6 kilometers from District 1. The new airport is five or six times farther out, which is the single biggest practical change for anyone who uses it.
Phase 1 is the part that opens in December. It cost around US$5.4 billion and includes one 4,000-meter runway, one passenger terminal, and support infrastructure sized for 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo a year. Later phases add runways, terminals, and capacity up to roughly 100 million passengers a year, which would put it among the biggest airports in Southeast Asia.
The opening itself has been a moving target. The first plane landed on the runway in December 2025, but that was a technical event, not a commercial one. The original plan called for mid-2026, then the target moved to the fourth quarter. In July 2026 the operator confirmed the December 1 date and laid out a phased transfer of flights from Tan Son Nhat. September through November 2026 are given over to trial operations, so the runway, terminal, and ground systems get exercised before real passengers show up.
| Fact | Long Thanh (LTH) | Tan Son Nhat (SGN) |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from District 1 | ~40 km east | ~6 km |
| Phase 1 capacity | 25 million passengers/year | Operating above design capacity |
| Commercial opening | December 1, 2026 (target) | Open, stays open |
| Role | Long-haul international + new routes | Short-haul international, most domestic |
One honest caveat before the detail: the date has moved more than once in the project's history. Book flights for December 2026 or later with the airport code in front of you, and check the airline's schedule again close to departure. Treat December 1 as the plan, not a guarantee.
The Route Split: Which Flights Move, and When
The transfer from Tan Son Nhat to Long Thanh happens in three phases, and the logic is simple: long distance goes first, short distance stays. Airlines agreed to the plan in July 2026, and the operator has set dates for each step.
Phase 1, December 1, 2026 to March 27, 2027. Long Thanh takes long-haul international routes, roughly everything over 1,000 kilometers, plus new international routes, charters, and cargo. That is about 19 percent of the region's international traffic. Tan Son Nhat keeps its existing routes but stops approving new international ones. Vietnam Airlines moves about 12 percent of its flying to Long Thanh on day one, and Vietjet starts at least two international routes there.
Phase 2, March 28 to October 30, 2027. Flights to Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Central Asia shift to Long Thanh. Long Thanh now handles around 55 percent of international traffic. Tan Son Nhat keeps the existing Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia routes, which covers Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Phase 3, from October 31, 2027. Long Thanh takes over all international flying except short routes under 1,000 kilometers operated by Vietnamese carriers. That puts more than 90 percent of international traffic at the new airport. Domestic flights stay mostly at Tan Son Nhat throughout, with airlines free to choose, and only about 10 percent of domestic traffic is expected at Long Thanh in the early phase, mostly people connecting to international departures.
| Phase | Dates | What moves to LTH | Intl traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 1, 2026 - Mar 27, 2027 | Long-haul over 1,000 km, new routes, charters, cargo | ~19% |
| 2 | Mar 28 - Oct 30, 2027 | Europe, Americas, Oceania, Africa, Middle East, South Asia | ~55% |
| 3 | From Oct 31, 2027 | All except sub-1,000 km routes on Vietnamese carriers | ~90%+ |
The takeaway is that this is a slow handover, not a sudden swap. For most of 2027, two airports serve Ho Chi Minh City international traffic, and you need to know which one your airline uses.
What This Means for Visa Runs from Saigon
Start with the part that affects most readers of this site: land border runs do not care about any of this. A Moc Bai visa run is a car ride to Tay Ninh, a stamp out at the Vietnamese gate, a short walk through Bavet, and a stamp back in. No airports involved, no airline schedules, no change on December 1. The same applies to runs via Xa Mat or the longer Cambodia crossings. The airport shuffle is invisible at the land border, and Moc Bai's 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM hours stay exactly as they are.
Fly-out runs are where the split shows up, and the news there is mostly good. The two classic fly-out destinations from Saigon are Bangkok and Phnom Penh. Both are short-haul Southeast Asia routes, the exact category that stays at Tan Son Nhat through Phase 1 and Phase 2. Under the Phase 3 rules, sub-1,000 kilometer routes flown by Vietnamese carriers keep operating from Tan Son Nhat even after October 2027. The Saigon to Phnom Penh hop is barely 200 kilometers. Bangkok is around 700. Neither is going anywhere for a long time.
So a same-weekend run that flies out Friday night and lands back Saturday keeps using SGN. Check-in at Tan Son Nhat, short flight, hotel night, return the next day, and the airport questions that come with Long Thanh simply do not apply.
What does shift is long-haul flying. If your plan involves flying out of Ho Chi Minh City to Europe, North America, Australia, or the Middle East, from December 1, 2026 expect that departure from Long Thanh, not Tan Son Nhat. That matters for expats who fly home and come back, for anyone combining a visa run with a real trip abroad, and for the paperwork side of arriving back into Vietnam at a new port of entry.
Getting to and from Long Thanh: Roads, Buses, and the Missing Rail Link
Long Thanh's distance from the city is the detail that catches people out. Tan Son Nhat is a 20-minute Grab from District 1 on a good day. Long Thanh is a highway trip, and for the first few years the highway is the only real option.
The main road is the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. Under normal traffic the drive to central Ho Chi Minh City takes 45 to 60 minutes by car, taxi, or Grab. Peak hours stretch that toward 90. Two things make the early months rougher than the brochure suggests. The expressway is being widened from four lanes to eight to ten, with the work targeted for December 2026, so expect construction and lane closures right around opening. And the Long Thanh bridge, a key section of the corridor, is not scheduled to finish until the second quarter of 2027.
Public transport is being set up in step with the opening. Two express bus routes are planned from late 2026: one between Saigon Bus Station and the airport with limited stops, expected to run 60 to 70 minutes, and one shuttle linking Tan Son Nhat directly to Long Thanh, expected at 70 to 80 minutes. The second route matters most for connecting passengers who land at one airport and fly out of the other. Availability is not guaranteed on day one, so check before you rely on it. Grab and metered taxis will operate from the arrivals hall, as at every Vietnamese airport.
There is no rail link at opening. A metro line from Thu Thiem to Long Thanh and a high-speed rail connection are in the plans, but realistic dates sit around 2030 or later. Anyone connecting between the two airports in the early years does it by road, with the SGN-LTH shuttle or a car, and should budget at least 70 to 90 minutes plus buffer between the two terminals.
Transfer rule of thumb: same airport, arrive two hours early as usual. Different airports, SGN to LTH or the reverse, treat it as a separate journey of at least an hour and a half and plan the connection accordingly. Same-day international-to-domestic connections that cross airports are the highest-risk ticket in the system right now.
E-Visas, Arrival Cards, and Other Paperwork at LTH
An e-visa is only valid at the ports of entry printed on the approval. This is where Long Thanh creates a real risk for people who do not read their documents. The Immigration Department maintains the list of accepted ports, and right now Long Thanh is not on it because no commercial flights use it. Once the airport opens, it is expected to join the list, and your e-visa application needs to name the airport you will actually land at.
Here is the failure mode. You fly a long-haul route that moves to Long Thanh in December, but you applied for your e-visa back in November and picked Tan Son Nhat as the entry port because that was the airport for Ho Chi Minh City. You land at LTH, hand over an e-visa that lists SGN, and the officer is looking at a mismatch. Entry port errors are not fixed at the counter. The same rule that applies to a Moc Bai runner who picks the wrong land gate applies to air arrivals, so when you apply, choose the port that matches your ticket.
The Digital Arrival Card follows the same logic. The free pre-arrival declaration with the QR code has been required at Tan Son Nhat since April 15, 2026, and the system is built to spread. The portal already carries fields for land and sea entry points and other provinces, and Noi Bai and Da Nang are expected to join in time. Long Thanh, a brand-new airport with modern systems, is almost certain to require it from opening day, though the formal confirmation had not landed as of early September 2026. Plan for it: file the declaration within 72 hours of any LTH arrival and carry the QR code, digital and printed, exactly as you would at SGN.
One more note for visa-exempt travelers. The 45-day exemption for UK citizens and the 30-day entries for other exempt nationalities do not care which airport you use. Exemption status is attached to your passport and nationality, not your point of arrival. A US citizen gets no exemption and needs the e-visa whichever airport they land at, and a UK citizen files the Digital Arrival Card at LTH just as at SGN.
Checklist for Flying in the Two-Airport Era
Most of the friction from Long Thanh comes down to one habit: knowing which airport you are using before you leave the house. The rest is buffer time.
- Read the airport code on your ticket. SGN means Tan Son Nhat, LTH means Long Thanh. Booking sites and travel agents often label both as Ho Chi Minh City, and the map view does not always help. The code on the boarding pass is the truth.
- Check the code again close to departure. Airlines are still moving routes between the two airports through 2027. A flight bought as SGN in October can become LTH in January. Reconfirm two or three days out, and check the email the airline sends about schedule changes.
- Plan ground transport before you land. In the first months, expect teething problems: construction on the expressway, bus routes that may not be running yet, and taxi queues at a brand-new terminal. Booking a Grab or a private car in advance beats negotiating at 2 AM.
- Pick your hotel with the airport in mind. If you land at Long Thanh late and only need a bed before a meeting in the morning, staying east of the river or in Dong Nai saves an hour of highway driving versus District 1. If your whole trip is in the city center, just budget the extra travel time.
- Split e-visa and arrival card across the right port. Name LTH on the e-visa if LTH is on the list and that is your arrival airport. File the Digital Arrival Card in the 72-hour window for that specific flight.
- Do not change visa-run plans over this. Land runs to Moc Bai and fly-out runs to Bangkok or Phnom Penh operate exactly as before. This page is about knowing the difference when your route is one of the ones that moved.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Long Thanh International Airport open?
Commercial operations are targeted for December 1, 2026, per the Airports Corporation of Vietnam. Construction is due to finish in September 2026, with trial operations each month from September to November. The airport held a technical opening in December 2025, and the commercial date has slipped before, so confirm your airport before booking.
Will flights from Saigon to Bangkok or Phnom Penh move to Long Thanh?
Not in the near term. Bangkok and Phnom Penh are short-haul Southeast Asia routes, and those stay at Tan Son Nhat through the phased 2026-2027 transfer. Fly-out visa runs keep using Tan Son Nhat for now. Long-haul flights to Europe, North America, Australia, and the Middle East are the ones moving to Long Thanh.
Which airport do I actually fly into?
Check the airport code on your ticket: SGN is Tan Son Nhat, LTH is Long Thanh. From December 1, 2026, long-haul international flights use LTH while short-haul stays at SGN. Booking sites sometimes label both as Ho Chi Minh City, so read the code, not the map.
How do I get from Long Thanh Airport to central Ho Chi Minh City?
By road, on the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. A car, taxi, or Grab takes 45 to 60 minutes in normal traffic and longer in peak hours. Express bus routes to Saigon Bus Station and a shuttle to Tan Son Nhat are planned from around the opening. There is no rail link until about 2030.
Can I use my Vietnam e-visa to enter at Long Thanh?
Only once Long Thanh is on the official port-of-entry list, which is expected when it opens to commercial flights. Your e-visa names the ports where you may enter, and officers refuse entry at a port that is not listed. Select the airport you will actually arrive at on your application.
Does the Digital Arrival Card apply at Long Thanh?
Almost certainly from opening day, though it has not been formally confirmed. The card already covers air arrivals at Tan Son Nhat and the system is expanding to other airports. File it for any Long Thanh arrival and check prearrival.immigration.gov.vn before you fly. Land crossings like Moc Bai still do not need it.
Need a Visa Run Before the Airport Shuffle?
Long Thanh changes air travel, not land runs. A same-day Moc Bai border run still gets you out and back with a fresh e-visa for a fraction of a flight ticket, and our drivers know the border timing cold. Runs leave daily from District 1 with door-to-door pickup.
Book Your Visa Run TodayRelated Guides
Airports and borders both shape how you manage a Vietnam visa. These pages cover the rest of the picture:
- Saigon to Phnom Penh fly-out visa run
- Vietnam Digital Arrival Card: the SGN pre-arrival declaration
- Visa runs with an e-visa: how re-entry works
- Decree 286/2026: what changes September 15
- How to do a visa run from Saigon
- How many visa runs can you do in Vietnam?
- Visarun.vn: border run network
- NamVisa: full Vietnam immigration services
- HCMC Visa Run: sister service