Tân Sơn Nhất Just Hit 1,000 Flights in a Day. It Probably Won't Have to Again.
Tân Sơn Nhất handled 1,063 flights in a single day — a record. With Long Thành airport opening mid-year, this is probably the last time it has to carry the load solo.
On February 11, Ho Chi Minh City's Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport logged 1,063 takeoffs and landings. Over 160,000 passengers moved through. It was the highest single-day count in the airport's history.
The next day: 1,050-plus again. That's roughly one aircraft every 80 seconds.
Tết Is Vietnam Aviation's Super Bowl
Lunar New Year is the biggest travel crunch in Vietnamese domestic aviation. Millions of workers from northern and central provinces who live in Ho Chi Minh City all fly home within days. Add international passengers, and Tân Sơn Nhất goes from busy to bursting.
This year's peak hit February 13-14, with an estimated 1,075 daily flights. The return wave around February 22-23 was projected at 1,025.
Over the full holiday window (February 7-26), the airport averaged about 940 flights and 145,000 passengers per day — 20% above normal, 8% more than last year's Tết.
How T3 and Maximum ATC Kept Things Moving
Terminal 3 opened last April. At over 110,000 square meters, it's Vietnam's largest domestic terminal, built for 20 million passengers a year. This Tết was its first.
Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, and Vietravel Airlines moved their domestic flights to T3. VietJet Air stayed at T1. The split relieved the chronic crush at T1 and T2. Biometric screening was deployed — passengers who checked in ahead of time through VNeID or airline apps could skip the queues.
But above 1,000 daily flights, the real pressure point is air traffic control. Tân Sơn Nhất's ATC center went to its highest operational mode: every controller on duty, shift breaks cut to the minimum, standby crews stationed directly in the tower. The airport has just two parallel runways (25L/07R and 25R/07L). Coordination between regional control centers squeezed takeoff and landing intervals to near their physical limits.
The Last Solo Act
Tân Sơn Nhất held. But it's an airport surrounded by city on every side. There's nowhere to grow. Total passenger volume hit 42.4 million in 2025. Even with T3's capacity, the 50-million ceiling is approaching.
Every Tết, roads around the airport — Cộng Hòa, Trường Chinh — gridlock for two kilometers. Just getting from the street into the terminal takes 20 minutes.
Relief is close. Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai province is expected to open for commercial flights in June. Its first phase cost about USD 4.6 billion: one 4,000-meter runway, designed for 25 million passengers a year. Once it's running, long-haul international routes will migrate there. Tân Sơn Nhất can focus on domestic and short-haul regional flights.
This Tết is likely the last time Tân Sơn Nhất shoulders 1,000-plus daily flights on its own. By next year, Long Thành should be taking a real share of the international load.
Until then, the city did what it could. Extra buses were added, with 2,200 backup vehicles on standby. City buses and Metro Line 1 (Bến Thành to Suối Tiên) ran free on New Year's Eve and the first three days. About 70% of the city's 1.2 million long-distance bus tickets were already sold, with surge pricing capped at 40-60%. Inside the airport, signage between T1 and T3 was overhauled to keep passengers from ending up at the wrong terminal.
