Construction of the first runway and terminal at Long Thanh Airport are ahead of schedule by two and 10 months respectively. This has led the main contractor, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam or ACV, to propose moving up construction of a second runway and the levelling for the third terminal, according to VNexpress. These were originally planned as part of the second phase beginning in 2026.
Despite certain stages of the first phase being ahead of schedule, however, several other parts are not moving quite so quickly. For example, the aircraft maintenance area, and operations centre, are at risk of falling behind schedule with the tender documents still not finalized. This could push back completion of the first phase, which is scheduled to be finalised by the end of 2025.
Another issue is ACV’s finances. According to Vietnamplus, ACV needs more than US$4 billion to complete the first phase. However, it only has about US$1.28 billion available, alongside a rainy day fund of US$286.54 million.