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Which Flights Use Long Thanh First? What Is Reported
Press reports say long-haul routes move to Long Thanh first and regional routes stay at Tan Son Nhat. What is claimed, where reports clash, what to ask.
Is your flight one of the first?
Reports say the first flights to move to Long Thanh would be long-haul ones, while routes within Northeast and Southeast Asia would stay at Tan Son Nhat. None of this was confirmed by an airport or airline notice in the sources read on 10 October 2026. Until a ticket shows the code LTH, a Long Thanh assistance service is not the one that applies to you, and the airport printed on your ticket is the only fact that settles it.
This page separates what has been reported, where the reports disagree, and what that changes when you are comparing assistance providers. For a plain check of which airport your own ticket uses, see Long Thanh vs Tan Son Nhat.
What has been reported
Everything in this list is a claim or a proposal as relayed by news outlets, read on 10 October 2026. None of it was found on a page published by the airport operator itself.
- Start date. Press coverage of a proposal by the airport operator, Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), gives 1 December 2026 as the start of the first transition phase, running to 27 March 2027. Trial operations were reported as scheduled for September, October and November 2026. The government’s own portal said on 30 March 2026 that it wants commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2026, which is a looser statement than a date.
- First phase, as reported by state media. All long-haul routes (Europe, the United States, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Central Asia) plus cargo, about 19% of international passengers in the Ho Chi Minh City area. Northeast and Southeast Asia routes stay at Tan Son Nhat.
- Second phase, as reported. One account says summer 2027 and covers most remaining international routes, except flights under 1,000 km operated by Vietnamese carriers. Another press version says March to October 2027, with a third phase from late October 2027.
- Final state, as reported. All scheduled international flights at Long Thanh between 2028 and 2030, with Tan Son Nhat keeping domestic and charter flights.
- Vietnam Airlines. A report dated 30 June 2026 says the airline proposes to move about 12% of its international flights, and names four routes from Ho Chi Minh City: Beijing Daxing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Manila.
- Other airlines. Vietjet was reported as committed to at least two international routes in the first phase, Vietravel Airlines was reported as starting in late 2026, and 34 airlines were reported as surveyed.
Where the reports disagree
The first-phase description says long-haul only. The Vietnam Airlines report names four routes that are not long-haul: Beijing, Hong Kong and Guangzhou are in East Asia and Manila is in Southeast Asia. That is the author’s reading of the geography, not something either report says. The sources read do not say whether the two accounts describe different versions of the plan, different time windows, or one superseding the other.
The phase dates differ as well, as the list above shows. Dates for this airport have also moved before; earlier targets were December 2025, the first half of 2026 and June 2026. Treat every date here as a proposal.
What this changes when you compare assistance
Inference from the reports above, not a finding:
| Your flight | What the reports suggest for the first phase | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Lands before 1 December 2026 | The airport had a technical opening on 19 December 2025 with no regular commercial passengers, and trial operations were scheduled for autumn 2026 | A Long Thanh service has nothing to apply to yet |
| Long-haul, landing after 1 December 2026 | Long Thanh, if the first-phase proposal holds | Read the airport code on the ticket, then ask the provider the questions below |
| Regional route within Northeast or Southeast Asia | Tan Son Nhat, under the first-phase proposal | Compare Tan Son Nhat offers; the four Vietnam Airlines routes above are the exception to watch |
Questions for a provider that quotes Long Thanh
- Is the price quoted for Long Thanh, or an arrival price at another airport carried over? In the lists reviewed for the Long Thanh price page, none showed a Long Thanh line on 10 October 2026.
- What happens to the booking if the airline moves the flight between Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat? Ask for the answer in writing: refund, change, or fee.
- Does the service start from an airport that is open to regular passengers on your date?
What would change this page
An airline notice that moves a specific route, or an airport-operator announcement that fixes the phases. The opening timeline tracks the date itself. Facts on this page were read on 10 October 2026 and can be out of date by the time you book.