If you’ve traveled to southern Vietnam for business in recent years, you’ve probably landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) and taken a car to the industrial zones in Dong Nai or Binh Duong. Tan Son Nhat Airport is only 6-8km from Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 — a 20-minute Grab ride gets you into the city center, so naturally you’d choose to stay in HCMC. But this habit may need to change completely after the end of 2026.
Long Thanh International Airport (LTA) is set to officially begin commercial operations in December 2026. Located in Long Thanh Town, Dong Nai Province, approximately 40km east of Ho Chi Minh City, it will take over most of Tan Son Nhat Airport’s international routes upon opening. For business travelers who frequently visit Vietnam’s export processing zones, this isn’t just aviation news — it’s a turning point that requires a complete reassessment of “where to stay.”
本文目錄
- What’s the Story Behind Long Thanh Airport?
- Transportation Network Fully Connected
- Business Accommodation Market: Repositioning Three Cities
- Dong Nai: From “Pass-Through Industrial Zone” to “Aviation Gateway”
- Binh Duong: International Brands Already Established, Not Far from Airport
- Ho Chi Minh City: Transit Routes Completely Changed
- Practical Guide for Business Travelers: Commute Time Comparison
What’s the Story Behind Long Thanh Airport?
Simply put, this is the largest airport project in Vietnam’s history, positioned as a regional Southeast Asian hub on par with Singapore’s Changi and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi. Phase I includes a 4,000-meter runway and a terminal with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers. Once operational, it will handle over 90% of Ho Chi Minh City’s international passenger traffic. In other words, when you fly to southern Vietnam in the future, you’ll most likely land not at Tan Son Nhat, but at Long Thanh.
As of mid-2026, the main terminal structure is complete, and the runway and apron are in place. A test flight was successfully conducted by Vietnam Airlines’ 787 Dreamliner in late 2025. The project is now in the final sprint of interior finishing and system installation, with three rounds of trial operations scheduled for September-November 2026, followed by official commercial operations in December. (Source: SGGP)
Transportation Network Fully Connected
No matter how good the airport is, it’s useless without transportation connections. The good news is that the road network around Long Thanh Airport is being developed in parallel — and progressing even faster than the airport itself.
In June 2026, the Long Thanh Interchange, connecting the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway with the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, was fully opened to traffic — a critical hub for regional transportation. Around the same time, the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway also opened for trial operation, directly connecting the corridor from the airport southeastward to Vung Tau. The Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway is the core east-west corridor — from the airport to HCMC’s District 1 is about 43km, and once the expressway expansion is complete, travel time is expected to be compressed to about 30 minutes. Ho Chi Minh City has also approved 13 express bus routes connecting to Long Thanh Airport, expected to begin operations in Q3 2026. (Source: Saigon Times)
Looking further ahead, there’s another noteworthy plan: the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh Urban Railway, spanning 42km with 20 stations and a design speed of 120km/h, which would get from Long Thanh Airport to HCMC’s Thu Thiem area in just 20-25 minutes. However, it’s still in the early planning stage, and actual completion will likely take several more years. (Source: Silverland Hotels)
Business Accommodation Market: Repositioning Three Cities
With the airport and road network in place, the next question is: where will business travelers stay? This directly relates to a reshaping of the accommodation market landscape.
Dong Nai: From “Pass-Through Industrial Zone” to “Aviation Gateway”
This is the biggest change. For a long time, Dong Nai Province has been seen by business travelers as merely a “place you pass through” — fly into Ho Chi Minh City, drive to Bien Hoa or Long Thanh for business, then return to HCMC to sleep at a hotel. Long Thanh Airport changes this logic.
The airport is within Dong Nai Province, and once operational, Dong Nai will transform from a “transit industrial zone” into an “aviation gateway city.” However, accommodation options around Long Thanh Town are currently very limited, consisting mainly of small local hotels. The only one with some scale is Mekong Long Thanh Resort, which caters to business groups and foreign experts on long-term stays. Dong Nai Province’s hotel hub remains in Bien Hoa City, where local brands like The Mira Central Park (5-star) and The City Boutique (4-star) hold the fort, but international chain brands are completely absent. After the airport opens, if international brands enter Dong Nai, Bien Hoa City or the Long Thanh Town area would likely be the first landing spots. For a detailed Dong Nai accommodation guide, see our previous article: Dong Nai Province Business Accommodation Guide.
Binh Duong: International Brands Already Established, Not Far from Airport
Binh Duong Province’s accommodation market is noticeably more mature than Dong Nai’s. The VSIP industrial park area already has international brands including Fairfield by Marriott, HIIVE by Fusion, and Citadines by Ascott, with good service standards and acceptance among foreign travelers. From Long Thanh Airport to Binh Duong VSIP, the drive is about 30-45 minutes — more stable than from Tan Son Nhat Airport, since it uses expressways rather than cutting through HCMC traffic. After the airport opens, Binh Duong’s international brand hotels are poised for a wave of demand growth — especially from Taiwanese and Japanese business travelers with factories in VSIP who need to travel internationally frequently. For the Binh Duong accommodation guide, see: Binh Duong Province Business Accommodation Guide.
Ho Chi Minh City: Transit Routes Completely Changed
HCMC’s downtown has the most hotels and the widest selection, and won’t be significantly impacted in the short term. But there’s a subtle change: Tan Son Nhat Airport is only 6-8km from District 1 (20-30 minutes), while Long Thanh Airport is about 40km from District 1 (60-90 minutes). This means transit passengers with short layovers may not want to spend over an hour traveling into HCMC — they might choose to stay near the airport in Dong Nai Province, or find an international brand hotel in Binh Duong for the night. (Source: Silverland Hotels)
This is similar to what happened when Taoyuan Airport opened: Songshan Airport remained downtown for regional routes, while Taoyuan handled long-haul international flights, and airport hotels like Novotel Taoyuan and Sheraton Taoyuan emerged nearby. There are currently no such hotels around Long Thanh Airport, but the gap is the opportunity.
Practical Guide for Business Travelers: Commute Time Comparison
Analysis aside, the most useful thing is a commute time comparison table. The data below covers travel times from both airports to four major business destinations, helping you decide where to stay:
| Route | Via Tan Son Nhat (SGN) | Via Long Thanh (LTA) |
|---|---|---|
| Airport → Bien Hoa (Dong Nai) | 45-60 minutes | 15-20 minutes |
| Airport → Binh Duong VSIP | 30-90 minutes | 30-45 minutes |
| Airport → HCMC District 1 | 20-30 minutes | 60-90 minutes |
| Airport → Vung Tau | 2-2.5 hours | 45-60 minutes |
From this table, we can draw several conclusions: if your destination is an industrial zone in Dong Nai Province, it’s only 15-20 minutes from Long Thanh Airport, and staying at a local hotel in Bien Hoa makes commuting very convenient. For Binh Duong VSIP, both airports are comparable, but the Long Thanh route is more stable. If you have meetings in HCMC, traveling from Long Thanh Airport to the city takes 60-90 minutes — for short stays, you could stay near the airport; for longer stays, HCMC is more practical. Business travelers heading to Vung Tau are the biggest beneficiaries, with commute times cut by more than half.
For Taiwanese and foreign business travelers, the most pragmatic approach is: closely monitor the official opening announcement at the end of 2026, and confirm whether your flights have been redirected to Long Thanh Airport. Once they have, use the commute time table above to re-plan your accommodation strategy. Don’t wait until you land to discover that getting from Long Thanh Airport to HCMC takes over an hour.
The opening of Long Thanh Airport is not just an airport beginning operations — it’s a reshaping of the entire southern Vietnam business travel landscape. Doing your homework early will help you find the accommodation strategy that best suits you in this changing landscape.
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