Vietnam’s ultra expensive Long Thanh Airport nears end-2026 opening date but there are problems

The absence of the private sector at Vietnam's airports has eased in recent years and several airports now have private firms involved in their expansion, or in new greenfield ones, usually through PPP arrangements.

There is no such involvement yet at Long Thanh, the new greenfield airport, possibly the world's most expensive, which is being built near Ho Chi Minh City, the country's most populous and commercial centre, which is set to open at the end of 2026 and which will eventually succeed the existing Tan Son Nhat Airport there as Vietnam's principal gateway.

However, numerous foreign investors, led by the UK's Export Finance Department, are keen to help with the financing of associated surface transport and other infrastructure there by guaranteeing loans.

That sends a signal to investors that even though the Vietnamese government has outsourced the funding and construction of the new airport to Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) a door might open for them (the UK Export Finance Dept can and does guarantee loans for airports).

ACV is not actively seeking such an investor but a succession of difficulties at Long Thanh, including allegations of corruption, might suggest that luring one in would at least put a shine on it; assuming that is, that investors would want to take the risk anyway.