A giant new airport with a total investment of nearly 20 billion USD in Vietnam - a popular destination for Australian tourists - is expected to become a global transportation center, according to leading Australian newspaper news.com.au .
When opened, Vietnam's Long Thanh International Airport will be located about 40 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The new airport is being built to relieve pressure on Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, both of which are near or at full capacity.
Starting construction on August 31, 2023, the shape of Long Thanh airport passenger terminal with the lotus symbol gradually appears.
Construction work on the new airport is underway and is expected to be completed in three phases. According to The Design Air, the first phase of construction cost $7 billion and this part of the airport is expected to open in 2025. The first terminal can accommodate up to 25 million passengers per year.
Long Thanh Airport (Long Thanh District, Dong Nai) has an area of 5,000 hectares, belonging to 6 communes of Long Thanh District.
Three more stations will also be built, increasing annual passenger numbers to 100 million. Designed by Heerim Architects and Planners, the airport will feature large glass windows as well as many open spaces that let in plenty of light.
The outside of the building has a wild design resembling a lotus flower, with the theme continuing inside with large lotus ponds and palm trees.
Perspective of Long Thanh airport passenger terminal when completed. The station is designed in the image of a lotus flower, including 1 ground floor and 3 floors, total floor area of 376,451.32 square meters; roof peak height 45.55 m; Arrange 40 close parking positions for aircraft
When the airport fully opens, Long Thanh will become Vietnam's main airport, replacing Tan Son Nhat international airport.
Long Thanh Airport is 5,000 hectares wide, with a total investment of 336,630 billion VND (equivalent to 16.3 billion USD), divided into 3 phases. In phase 1 (expected to operate in 2026), Long Thanh airport has a capacity to serve 25 million passengers/year and 1.2 million tons of cargo/year. When fully completed, Long Thanh airport will have 4 runways, 4 passenger terminals and synchronous auxiliary items, with a capacity of 100 million passengers/year and 5 million tons of cargo/year.
Vietnam is not the only country preparing to have a giant new aviation hub in the next year or several years. Many places around the world are in the race to open airports.
In particular, it is likely that King Salman International Airport in Saudi Arabia will be the largest airport in the world when it opens in 2030.
This giant airport has 6 runways and can accommodate up to 120 million passengers per year. It will also become a base for Riyadh Air, which is expected to become Saudi Arabia's new national airline when commercial flights open next year.
Lotus flowers inside Long Thanh airport
The new airline was launched a year ago at the Paris Air Show, with the company displaying its purple fleet.
Additionally, Warsaw, Poland's Solidarity airport is expected to compete with Britain's Heathrow and Dubai thanks to its proposed long-haul flights.
This new airport allows passengers from Central and Eastern European countries to fly to almost anywhere in the world without first having to go to Western European airline hubs…