Long Thanh Airport to host technical test flight on Monday ahead of official arrivals

Under the plan, a Boeing 787 will depart from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, land at Long Thanh, and then return to Tan Son Nhat.

The flight, operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, will carry only the flight crew and technical personnel, with no passengers or cargo on board.

The test flight aims to assess the readiness of the airport’s infrastructure and operational systems ahead of its first official operations.

On Friday morning, three aircraft, operated respectively by Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways, will take off from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, land sequentially at Long Thanh, and then fly back to Noi Bai.

Nguyen Tien Viet, deputy general director of ACV, said major transport links connecting the airport are now in place, while landscaping and tree planting work is largely complete.

ACV has technically opened the two main access roads, T1 and T2, and will ensure smooth connectivity along the main axis leading to the terminal area by Friday.

He added that the airside infrastructure, including the runway, taxiways, and the airfield lighting system, is ready for operation.

Load-bearing tests of the pavement system have also been conducted, confirming that it meets design requirements for operating the largest aircraft planned for the airport.

Regarding flight operations, airspace management, and procedures, the Southern Region Air Traffic Services Company has largely completed construction of the air traffic control tower and installed key equipment, including primary and secondary radar systems, DVOR/DME navigation aids, and ADS-B surveillance systems.

Flight procedures and operational plans for the Tan Son Nhat–Long Thanh area have been finalized, while qualified personnel have been mobilized from other airports and trained through on-site courses and simulator-based programs.

ACV said it is intensifying efforts under government direction to substantially complete the Long Thanh Airport project before Friday, with the aim of putting the airport into commercial operation in the first half of 2026.

Calibration flights conducted from September 26 to October 2 confirmed that the airport meets the conditions required to receive flights on Friday.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made his ninth inspection of the construction progress of the new airport and instructed relevant agencies to finalize detailed plans for both the technical test flight and the first official flights.

The Long Thanh International Airport project carries a total estimated investment of more than US$16 billion and is being developed in three phases.

Phase 1, which began in 2020 with an investment of around $5.4 billion, is designed to handle 25 million passengers and 1.2 million metric tons of cargo annually.

Once all three phases are completed, the airport is expected to accommodate up to 100 million passengers and five million metric tons of cargo per year.