Long Thanh Airport passenger fees under review ahead of launch

On September 8, the Ministry of Construction (MoC) issued a notice on the conclusions of Deputy Minister of Constrution Le Anh Tuan at a meeting on the draft decision promulgating passenger service charges at Long Thanh International Airport.

The meeting, held on September 4, was attended by representatives from the Price Management Department and the Department of Enterprise Development under the Ministry of Finance; the Departments of Transport and Traffic Safety, Planning and Finance, Legal Affairs, and Enterprise Management; the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) and the Department of Construction Infrastructure; Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV); and Vietnam Airlines.

According to Deputy Minister Tuan, promulgating the passenger service charge (PSC) at Long Thanh International Airport is necessary to establish a legal basis for the organisation and provision of services, as well as the collection, management and use of service charges in accordance with the law, while meeting the requirements for preparing the necessary conditions to put the airport into operation in December.

Photo: baodautu.vn

Deputy Minister Tuan assigned the CAAV, in coordination with ACV, to review and provide explanations on the opinions raised by agencies and organisations at the meeting, urgently finalise the draft decision and submit it to the MoC through the Department of Transport and Traffic Safety before September 11.

In particular, the CAAV and ACV must review and supplement directives from Party, National Assembly, and government leaders on developing policies to attract airlines, promote and market the destination, and make Long Thanh a priority destination for airlines; clarify the analysis and arguments concerning the pricing methodology and the conformity of the proposed charges with the state's pricing principles stipulated in the Law on Prices.

The agencies must also clarify the method for determining the PSC for domestic passengers based on the cost method, as well as the legal basis and form of listing the PSC for international passengers in US dollars.

The timing of the issuance must also be reviewed to ensure sufficient time to update the charges as required by the International Air Transport Association, in line with preparations for putting Long Thanh into operation.

Based on the draft decision and the report from the CAAV, the Deputy Minister Tuan assigned the Department of Transport and Traffic Safety to take the lead, in coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, in finalising the dossier for submission to the MoC's leadership for consideration and decision.

The department was also tasked with finalising the draft decision for consultation with the Standing Committee of MoC's Party Committee before September 15.

ACV is currently the investor in Component Project 3 – essential facilities within the airport under the first-phase of the Long Thanh International Airport construction project, with an approved total investment of approximately $3.96 billion funded by corporate capital.

Phase 1 has a designed capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per year.

As Long Thanh is a newly built airport and specific service charges have never previously been determined for the facility, ACV has worked with the Incheon Airport Consortium to adopt the cost method, following the guidance in Circular No.45/2024/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance in 2024, to formulate the pricing plan.

Based on the calculation results and an overall consideration of the principles and pricing grounds stipulated in the Law on Prices, ACV has reportedly proposed a PSC of $3.64 per passenger for domestic flights and $25 per passenger for international flights at Long Thanh.

“For international passengers, ACV has proposed a separate roadmap to support airlines and passengers during the transition of operations from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Long Thanh,” said Nguyen Duc Hung, acting deputy general director of ACV.

Accordingly, during the first two years, the international PSC at Long Thanh is expected to be $25 per passenger, equivalent to the charge currently applied at Noi Bai International Airport. After two years, Long Thanh International Airport will study, formulate and resubmit an adjusted pricing plan.

Under Decision No.1712/QD-BGTVT, issued by the former Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) in 2024, the international PSC currently applied at Noi Bai is $25 per passenger, while the charge at Tan Son Nhat, Danang, Van Don and Cam Ranh airports is $20 per passenger.

Long Thanh International Airport's road to success paved with obstacles Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai province is expected to give southeast Vietnam an economic boost when it opens in 2026, but this opportunity will arrive with multiple challenges.

ACV pushes to complete Long Thanh Airport phase one by September Airports Corporation of Vietnam has set an end-of-year target for the commercial launch of Long Thanh International Airport's first phase, while accelerating infrastructure completion, operational trials, workforce training and transport connectivity.

DPM pushes for urgent approval of metro extension to Long Thanh International Airport Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc has chaired a meeting on the proposed extension of the Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien metro line to connect Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport.

Major Asian airlines survey Long Thanh International Airport Several major airlines from Japan and South Korea have visited Long Thanh International Airport to assess its infrastructure and explore operating opportunities ahead of the airport’s planned opening.