Under a government resolution dated Aug. 27, Dong Nai City that hosts the new airport will implement the project under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, ensuring efficiency, quality, safety and transparency while preventing violations.

The order stipulates that compensation and land clearance must balance the interests of residents and businesses while preventing violations, complaints and potential hotspots involving public security and order. The selection of investors must be transparent and objective and meet requirements for project schedule, quality and efficiency.

Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line in operation in Ho Chi Minh CIty in December 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Ministry of Finance will be responsible for inspecting and supervising the project, while the Ministry of Construction will support and guide Dong Nai in implementing it.

The metro extension to Dong Nai's administrative center and Long Thanh Airport will span 44.5 kilometers, with a maximum design speed of 120 kph, and will be developed in two phases.

The first phase will run 7.1 kilometers from Suoi Tien Station to the administrative center. The second phase will cover 36.3 kilometers from the administrative center to Long Thanh Airport. The project will include several stations, a depot and other infrastructure.

The project has a preliminary estimated investment of VND60.26 trillion (US$2.29 billion) and will require about 192 hectares of land. Compensation, support and resettlement costs are estimated at VND4.32 trillion. Construction is expected to take place from 2026 to 2030.

In March, then-Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed in principle to extend the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line to Dong Nai City's administrative center and Long Thanh Airport through an expedited procedure to shorten investment processes.

A map showing the planned extension of Ho Chi Minh City’s Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line to Long Thanh Airport. Graphic by Hoang Thanh

The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien, the only metro line running in HCMC, began commercial operations on Dec. 22, 2024 with a total investment of more than VND43.7 trillion (US$1.67 billion).

The 20-km journey from Ben Thanh Station in the city downtown to Suoi Tien Station in Thu Duc City takes about 30 minutes.

Long Thanh Airport is scheduled to begin commercial operations on Dec. 1. The National Assembly approved VND336.63 trillion (US$13 billion) in 2015 for the airport's development in three phases, with the completed project eventually expected to have four runways and four terminals.

The first phase, costing about VND110 trillion, includes a single terminal designed to handle 25 million passengers a year.

The airport has been projected to gradually replace Tan Son Nhat in HCMC as the international air hub in southern Vietnam.