Long Thanh Airport: The Phased Opening and How Long It Takes from District 1

Long Thanh International Airport sits in Dong Nai province, more than 50 km by road from central District 1. If you are staying downtown, two questions actually matter: which airport your flight uses, and what time you need to leave the hotel. This guide answers both, with a measured road distance rather than a rounded one.

• As of 13 October 2026, Long Thanh is not yet in commercial service. The operator’s plan is to begin in December 2026.
• Distance: 50.9 km from Ben Thanh Market, measured on Google Maps on 13 October 2026.
• Driving time: 1 hour 24 minutes at the time of measurement, mid-morning on a weekday.
• Tan Son Nhat keeps most domestic routes and all existing international routes during the first stage.
• Passenger service charge: 90,909 VND domestic, USD 25 international, both excluding VAT, on tickets sold from 1 October 2026.

Is Long Thanh open yet?

Not as of the date on this guide. Airports Corporation of Vietnam plans to begin commercial operations on 1 December 2026, after construction is complete and trial operations have run.

Three things get blurred together and are worth separating: a construction completion milestone, a technical or calibration flight, and a commercial flight you can buy a seat on. A news report about the first aircraft landing at Long Thanh does not mean you can book a departure from there next week.

The only reliable basis for telling a driver where to go is the airport code printed on your own ticket or e-itinerary. The two airports are more than 50 km apart, so arriving at the wrong one is not a mistake you can fix on the spot.

The phased rollout

The table below describes the announced plan, not a confirmed schedule for any individual flight.

Stage	Announced scale	What to check
December 2026 to March 2027	Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet operating at 6 to 10 per cent of design capacity, roughly 20 to 30 flights a day. Maximum planned volume of 366 flights a week, of which 322 domestic and 44 international. Domestic cargo from 24 December 2026.	Confirm the airport on both the outbound and the return leg. This stage focuses on domestic and short-haul international routes.
April 2027 to October 2027	Additional international routes to Europe, Australia, South Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and the Americas. Passenger volume planned at 50 per cent of design capacity.	Check the route announcement from the airline you are actually flying, rather than assuming a whole destination moves at once.
From October 2027	Operating at 100 per cent of the first development phase’s design capacity, with a full domestic and international network including cargo routes to Europe and the United States.	Treat this as a planned capacity milestone, not evidence that actual passenger traffic has reached it.

Which airport is your flight using?

Tan Son Nhat keeps a lot during the first stage, so do not assume every international flight moves to Long Thanh. Under the announced split:

• Tan Son Nhat keeps all of its existing international routes during the first stage, though no new international routes will be licensed there.
• Scheduled international routes under 1,000 km flown by narrow-body aircraft such as the A320, A321 and Boeing 737 stay at Tan Son Nhat.
• Domestic routes to the north-central region, the Central Highlands, the southeast and the Mekong Delta continue at Tan Son Nhat.
• Routes to the Red River Delta are planned to split 88 per cent at Tan Son Nhat and 12 per cent at Long Thanh. The south-central region splits 93 and 7.

In short, during the opening months most passengers flying from Ho Chi Minh City still use Tan Son Nhat. If your ticket says Tan Son Nhat, use our Tan Son Nhat transfer guide rather than this one.

How far and how long from District 1

We measured this directly on Google Maps on 13 October 2026, at about 10.30am on a Tuesday, outside peak hours:

Route	Distance	Time when measured	Notes
Via the HCMC to Long Thanh to Dau Giay expressway	50.9 km	1 hour 24 minutes	The main route and a toll road. This is what map apps suggest first.
Via the Ben Luc to Long Thanh expressway	68.1 km	1 hour 25 minutes	17 km longer for the same time, useful when the main route is congested.

The 50.9 km figure is worth noting, because many guides still quote around 40 km. The difference is that 40 km is close to the straight-line distance, while 50.9 km is the road a car actually drives.

Time varies far more than distance. The HCMC to Long Thanh to Dau Giay expressway congests regularly and is currently being widened. New connecting roads, including provincial road DT 25C running directly to the airport gate and a link to Ring Road 3, were expected to open in October 2026. Once that network is complete the journey may shorten considerably, but until then, plan from the measured figure.

Two planning scenarios

The measurement above is a single reading outside peak hours. For planning we use the two allowances below. These are our planning figures, not times measured under all conditions:

• Off-peak (roughly 9pm to 6am, and 9.30am to 4pm): 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Peak (roughly 6am to 9.30am, and 4pm to 7.30pm): 2 hours 15 minutes.

What time to leave the hotel

The method: take your departure time, subtract the time you need to be at the airport, then subtract the road allowance and a 30-minute buffer. We target arrival two hours before a domestic departure and three hours before an international departure, which matches the check-in counter opening times airlines commonly publish. Your own airline’s instructions always take precedence.

Departure	Type	Be at the airport	Road plus buffer	Leave the hotel
07:30	Domestic	05:30	1h30 plus 30 min	03:30
10:00	Domestic	08:00	2h15 plus 30 min, morning peak	05:15
14:00	International	11:00	1h30 plus 30 min	09:00
18:00	Domestic	16:00	2h15 plus 30 min, evening peak	13:15
20:00	International	17:00	2h15 plus 30 min, evening peak	14:15
23:00	International	20:00	1h30 plus 30 min	18:00

These clock times are illustrative so you can apply the method, not a published flight schedule. One result is worth noticing: the 10am departure is two and a half hours later than the 7.30am one, yet it only buys you an hour and three quarters of extra time at the hotel, because the drive runs straight into the morning peak. A pre-dawn flight is actually the easiest one to travel to.

For an early departure, finish packing and settle any hotel charges the evening before. For an afternoon departure, do not add a final shopping stop after the agreed pickup time. If your airline asks for earlier arrival, move the hotel departure earlier by the same amount.

This calculation covers the hotel-to-airport leg only. It does not apply to connecting between Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh, which also involves disembarking, baggage reclaim, border procedures where applicable, and a fresh check-in.

How to make the journey

As of this update, no bus route is carrying commercial passengers between central Ho Chi Minh City and Long Thanh. The city has proposed 13 new routes plus adjustments to 4 existing ones to connect the two airports, intended to launch alongside the airport. That remains a proposal awaiting approval of the route list, not a service you can plan a journey around.

Three practical options:

• A car booked through the hotel: price and pickup time agreed in advance, driver waiting in the lobby. The best fit for early flights and groups with luggage.
• A metered taxi: charged on the meter plus tolls. Ask for an estimated total including the expressway toll before setting off.
• Ride-hailing: the app shows the fare when you book, though a trip this long does not always find a driver quickly in the small hours.

When requesting a quote, provide the flight number, the full hotel address, the number of passengers and the number of bags. Ask explicitly whether the total includes tolls, airport pickup charges and any waiting supplement. Compare like with like: a fixed private-car quote and an app fare for immediate departure are not the same kind of number.

An airport transfer is not automatically included in a room rate. Check the terms of the specific hotel and rate you booked before counting it in your budget.

Airport passenger service charge

This is an airport charge collected inside your air ticket, entirely separate from the price of the car. The Long Thanh rates:

Passenger	Charge
Domestic	90,909 VND per passenger, excluding VAT
International	USD 25 per passenger, excluding VAT

These apply to tickets sold from midnight on 1 October 2026. For a ticket originally issued from Tan Son Nhat and later moved to Long Thanh, the passenger keeps the charge that applied when the ticket was issued; the difference is neither collected nor refunded.

One mistake to avoid: this charge is already inside your air ticket, so do not add it to a car quote. When reviewing a transfer quote, ask only about the fare, the tolls and any waiting supplement.

Frequently asked questions

Is Long Thanh Airport open?

Not as of 13 October 2026. The operator plans to begin commercial service in December 2026, with Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet operating at 6 to 10 per cent of design capacity.

How far is Long Thanh Airport from District 1?

50.9 km from Ben Thanh Market via the HCMC to Long Thanh to Dau Giay expressway, measured on Google Maps on 13 October 2026. The alternative via the Ben Luc to Long Thanh expressway is 68.1 km.

How long does the drive take?

1 hour 24 minutes at the time of measurement, mid-morning on a weekday. For planning, allow 1 hour 30 minutes off-peak and 2 hours 15 minutes at peak, plus a 30-minute buffer.

Is my flight from Long Thanh or Tan Son Nhat?

Check the airport code on your own ticket or e-itinerary. During the first stage Tan Son Nhat keeps all existing international routes and most domestic ones, so most passengers still use Tan Son Nhat.

What time should I leave my District 1 hotel?

Take your departure time, subtract two hours for a domestic flight or three for an international one, then subtract the road allowance and a 30-minute buffer. An 8pm international departure in the evening peak means leaving around 2.15pm.

Is there a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh?

No route is carrying passengers yet. The city has proposed 13 new routes and adjustments to 4 existing ones, intended to launch alongside the airport. Until there is an official notice, plan on a private car.

What is the passenger service charge at Long Thanh?

90,909 VND for domestic passengers and USD 25 for international passengers, both excluding VAT, on tickets sold from 1 October 2026. It sits inside the air fare and has nothing to do with the cost of the car.

My ticket was issued for Tan Son Nhat and moved to Long Thanh. Do I pay more?

No. An issued ticket keeps the passenger service charge that applied when it was issued, and the difference caused by the airport change is neither collected nor refunded.

Will the drive get faster?

Several connecting roads are being completed, including provincial road DT 25C running to the airport gate and a link to Ring Road 3, both expected to open in October 2026. The main expressway is also being widened. Until that network is operating together, plan from measured times.

Can I connect between Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh?

In principle yes, but it is a road journey of more than 50 km on top of disembarking, baggage reclaim, border procedures where applicable, and a fresh check-in. We would not self-connect two separate tickets across the two airports on the same day with less than six hours between them.

Last updated: 13 October 2026.

Sources

• VnExpress, 13 July 2026, on the commercial opening plan and the route split between the two airports.
• Dan Tri, 4 October 2026, on the three-stage rollout and planned volumes.
• VietnamPlus, 29 September 2026, on the passenger service charge and the rule for already-issued tickets.
• Dan Tri, 2 June 2026, on the proposed airport bus routes.
• Thanh Nien, 26 January 2026, on the state of the connecting roads.
• Distance and driving time measured on Google Maps, 13 October 2026 at about 10.30am.