Ho Chi Minh Airport Guide: Tan Son Nhat Inside and Out
Ho Chi Minh Airport, officially Tan Son Nhat, handles around 40 million passengers on two close runways. Terminals, routes, access and spotting explained.
By The Aviation Hub
7 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Tan Son Nhat International Airport sits inside the northern districts of Ho Chi Minh City, only 4 miles (7 km) from the centre of the former Saigon. It is the busiest airport in Vietnam and the main gateway to the south of the country. Ho Chi Minh Airport handled around 40 million passengers in 2024 on a cramped site that was once among the busiest military airfields in the world. A third terminal opened in 2025 and a brand new airport at Long Thanh is being built to take over its international role.
Ho Chi Minh Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is SGN, a legacy of the city’s old name, and the ICAO code is VVTS. The field lies 10 metres (33 feet) above sea level on the flat Mekong plain, surrounded on every side by dense housing in Tan Binh district. Two closely spaced parallel runways serve three terminals, Terminal 1 for domestic flights, Terminal 2 for international and the new Terminal 3 for domestic. The state owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam operates the airport, and the military still holds part of the site.
Vietnam Airlines and its regional subsidiary VASCO run their southern hub here, and Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airlines, Vietravel Airlines and Vietstar Airlines all base aircraft at Ho Chi Minh Airport. The 2024 total of roughly 39.9 million passengers was slightly down on 2023, held back by aircraft groundings across the Vietnamese fleet. Capacity rose to about 50 million with the opening of Terminal 3. Flight information is on the airport’s official website.
How Saigon’s Airport Came to Be
The French colonial administration built a small airfield with unpaved runways near the village of Tan Son Nhut in the 1920s and extended it through the 1930s. With American aid a 7,200 foot runway was laid by 1956, and during the Vietnam War the field became Tan Son Nhut Air Base, shared by the United States Air Force and the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. Between 1968 and 1974 it ranked among the busiest military airfields anywhere.
The end of the war brought tragedy and drama. In April 1975 a United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A crashed on approach during Operation Babylift, killing 155 people. On 24 April, six days before the fall of Saigon, Pan Am flew its final Boeing 747 charter out of the city. The airport then slipped into decades of isolation under the new government.
Growth returned with Vietnam’s economic reforms in the 1990s. The international Terminal 2, built by a Japanese consortium, opened in December 2007, and the old French era building became the domestic terminal. In 2017 the military ceded land for 21 extra parking stands, and Terminal 3 opened in April 2025 on the southern side of the site.
Runways at Ho Chi Minh Airport
Two parallel concrete runways run northeast to southwest. Runway 07R/25L is the longer at 3,828 metres (12,559 feet) and Runway 07L/25R measures 3,050 metres (10,007 feet). Both are 45 metres wide. They sit just 365 metres apart, which rules out independent operations, so controllers run them as a dependent pair, usually with arrivals on 25R and departures on 25L.
That geometry caps the airport at 44 movements an hour, lifted to 48 at peak periods such as the Tet holiday. The 25 runways are in use almost all the time, with arrivals crossing the city’s rooftops from the northeast, and the 07 direction appears mainly in strong easterly winds. The longer runway takes the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 services to Europe and Australia.
Weather is the main source of delay. Afternoon thunderstorms in the wet season from May to November can shut the field for an hour at a time, and with no spare capacity the knock on effects last all evening. A third runway was studied and rejected, since the city leaves no room to build one.
Terminals and Airlines
Terminal 1 is the original domestic building, extended many times, and now serves mainly Vietjet Air, the country’s largest low cost carrier. Terminal 2 handles every international flight. Vietnam Airlines and its SkyTeam partners Korean Air, China Airlines and Air France use it, as do Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, ANA, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, United and the big Chinese carriers.
Terminal 3 at Ho Chi Minh Airport opened in April 2025 with capacity for around 20 million passengers a year. Vietnam Airlines moved its domestic flights there first, and Pacific Airlines, VASCO, Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines followed in August 2025. A free landside shuttle links the three terminals every 15 minutes, though the walk between Terminals 1 and 2 is short.
Vietjet’s cabin crew in red and yellow and Vietnam Airlines’ lotus livery dominate the aprons. Lounges are modest, with the Lotus Lounge in Terminal 2 the best of a workmanlike set.
Routes and Destinations
The route to Hanoi is the busiest in Southeast Asia and among the busiest in the world, with around 11 million passengers in 2023 and departures every 15 minutes or so from early morning until late. Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Hai Phong, Nha Trang and Hue are also busy, and Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines fight hard on all of them with A321neo fleets.
Internationally, Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong and Tokyo are among the leading routes, reflecting the manufacturing and tourism ties with Northeast Asia. Vietnam Airlines flies 787s and A350s to Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco, and the San Francisco nonstop, at about 7,800 miles (12,600 km), is the longest sector from Ho Chi Minh Airport. Emirates, Qatar and Turkish Airlines link the Gulf and Istanbul.
Tet, the lunar new year, brings the heaviest domestic loads, when millions return to their home provinces. The northern winter is the international peak as tourists escape the cold. Cargo is substantial, driven by electronics and garment exports.
Getting to and from Ho Chi Minh Airport
City buses are the cheapest sensible option. Route 109 runs from the bus station in front of Terminal 2 to the backpacker district and Ben Thanh market for around VND 15,000 (roughly 45p), and route 152 covers a similar run. Shuttle 49 also runs to the city centre, and bus 119 links to the Mien Tay bus station for Vung Tau and the Mekong Delta towns.
Taxis from Vinasun and Mai Linh, and the ride hailing app Grab, charge about VND 150,000 to 250,000 (around £4.50 to £7.50) to District 1 in 20 to 45 minutes. Traffic on Truong Son and Cong Hoa streets is heavy at rush hour, and the motorbike taxis available through Grab are quickest for anyone travelling light. There is no rail link yet, although Metro Lines 4 and 6 are planned to serve the airport. Car parks sit in front of each terminal.
Spotting and Photography
Ho Chi Minh Airport is a city centre field, and the rooftop cafes of Tan Binh district have made it a favourite for spotters. Several rooftop coffee shops on Quang Trung and Nguyen Van Cong streets in Go Vap district sit under the 25R approach, and aircraft pass low over the tables on final. Air Coffee on Tan Son street, beside the 07L threshold, covers the western end of the field.
The tropical light is harsh at midday, so early morning and late afternoon are best, with the dry season from December to April giving the clearest skies. Vietnamese authorities are sensitive about photography near the military areas, so stay in cafes and public streets, avoid the fence and keep cameras away from the air base.
What Comes Next
Terminal 3 bought time rather than a long term future. Long Thanh International Airport, about 25 miles (40 km) east in Dong Nai province, is due to open its first phase to commercial flights from December 2026 and will gradually take over international flights, leaving Tan Son Nhat as a domestic and regional airport. Until the expressway and rail links to Long Thanh mature, the old airport will stay busy.
Ho Chi Minh Airport has reached the limits of its site, and the city’s aviation future now lies out to the east. See how it ranks on our Airports of the World map.
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