# Why Asia is Getting Another Mega Airport ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-01-07 · **Length:** 13:31 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaxo-wpp-hc) > Caption source: YouTube **manual English (UK)** captions (`en-GB`), downloaded with **yt-dlp** on the first attempt. The track covers the whole video, including the **Mega Builds** book plug and the closing **Brick Borrow** plug, so the auto tracks were not needed. TubeAlfred was not used (0 credits). One bot-check on the video download cleared after a ~20 s retry. **Companion article:** [Why Asia is Getting Another Mega Airport](https://www.theb1m.com/video/why-asia-is-getting-another-mega-airport) on theb1m.com, by **James Rabey** (07 January 2026; "Video hosted by Fred Mills"). It follows the script closely, with image captions (for example "Long Thanh Airport will feature four terminals and four 4,000 metre long runways. Image: ADP Ingénierie" and "The Long Thanh Airport terminals are inspired by Vietnam's national flower, a lotus. Image: Arup"). It differs from the video in a few places. It leaves out the book plug and the **Vietnam War bombs and mines** found during excavation. It names the Philippine project **New Manila International** (the video says **Bulacan**; they are the same airport). It adds a "near 30% increase in international visitors" in the Tan Son Nhat section, a line that curves also **waste more material**, and the closing line "every great airport started somewhere". Phase-one figures were cross-checked against the [Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam](https://caa.gov.vn/hoat-dong-nganh/chinh-phu-phe-duyet-du-an-dau-tu-xay-dung-cang-hang-khong-quoc-te-long-thanh-giai-doan-1-20201112140245461.htm) approval notice, [ACI Asia-Pacific](https://www.aci-asiapac.aero/media-centre/news/inauguration-ceremony-for-infrastructure-projects-and-the-first-flight-operation-at-long-thanh-international-airport) and [Tuổi Trẻ News](https://news.tuoitre.vn/southern-vietnams-long-thanh-intl-airport-welcomes-first-official-flight-103251219152239486.htm). These confirm the **373,000 m²** terminal, the **123 m** tower, the **4,000 m × 75 m** runway and the **25 million passengers / 1.2 million tonnes** for phase one, and **100 million / 5 million tonnes** at completion. They also put the official cost lower than the video's figure: about **VND 109 trillion (~USD $4.7BN)** for phase one and **VND 336.6 trillion (nearly USD $13BN)** in total. YouTube chapters are used as section headings and line up with the captions. Screenshots come from the 720p stream (format 136). Host: **Fred Mills**. Paid promotion: **none**. The B1M's own plugs: Fred's book ***Mega Builds: Ten Colossal Construction Projects That Will Change Our World*** (Penguin Random House, pre-order) and **Brick Borrow**, a LEGO subscription service The B1M has invested in (brickborrow.com). The description also plugs **Get Construction Talking** and *The World's Best Construction Podcast*. Additional footage and images: Vietnam News Agency, Toàn BDS, Heerim Architects, Changi Airport Group, BDN 365, Cambodianess, Universe Travel, ITV News, When Realty Bytes, eclecticom, San Miguel Corporation, Vietnam and More, ADP Ingénierie, Kiến Thức Đại Học, VTV24, Báo Tuổi Trẻ, Tạp chí Diễn đàn doanh nghiệp, Báo Pháp Luật TP HCM, VN Express, Báo Sài Gòn Giải Phóng and JetlinerSpotting SGN. ## Outline ### 0:00 Intro - **0:01** "Southeast Asia is in the middle of one of the **most expensive races** on the planet." **Well over a hundred million** people visited the region last year, and the number is climbing fast. - **0:12** Several countries are competing to become the region's **mega-port**, so "literal **billions of dollars**" are going into some of the biggest airports ever built. - **0:24** Vietnam's **Long Thanh** "might just be the most ambitious gamble of them all": **USD $16BN** and **5,000 hectares**, "more than **four times the size of London Heathrow**". - **0:41** Why build such a massive airport, and at such a cost, "will it pay off?" - **0:52** Book announcement: **Penguin Random House** asked Fred to write a book, ***Mega Builds: Ten Colossal Construction Projects That Will Change Our World***. It goes "deeper than I've ever gone before", with the teams, the human stories, the engineering and his own "calamities" along the way. - **1:49** "Who ghost wrote that for you? No one. I can't afford a fancy ghost writer." It is **available to pre-order**, and "my entire future happiness depends on you pre-ordering this book." ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0003.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0020.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0033.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0045.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0125.webp]] ### 2:27 Southeast Asia's next mega-port - **2:30** **Boeing** predicts air traffic to Southeast Asia will **more than triple** over the next **20 years**. - **2:36** It is not only backpacking westerners: **China's growing middle class** and tourists from emerging markets such as **India** are behind a rapid surge in holidaymakers. - **2:59** "While America has **Denver** and Europe has **Heathrow**", the race is on to become Southeast Asia's next mega-port. - **3:06** The strongest competitor is **Changi** in **Singapore**, with a "huge head-start". It is already the region's **largest airport** at **60 million** passengers a year and is "regularly referred to as the **best airport in the world**". - **3:25** **USD $10BN** is going into a new **Terminal 5**. Once it is complete in the **mid-2030s**, capacity could reach **150 million**. - **3:38** **Malaysia** wants to expand **Kuala Lumpur International** to **150 million** a year. **Thailand**'s main hub, **Suvarnabhumi**, is being redeveloped for **120 million**. - **3:54** The **Philippines** is building **Bulacan**, a whole new **USD $14BN** airport for up to **100 million** passengers a year. (The companion article calls it New Manila International.) - **4:02** Any of these could get its own video ("let us know in the comments"), but Long Thanh is "going to be a **colossus**": once complete, one of the largest airports anywhere, "and for a meaty $16 billion dollars, you'd kind of hope so." ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0155.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0175.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0195.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0215.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0242.webp]] ### 4:09 Why build Long Thanh Airport? - **4:26** The first of **two key reasons** is **Tan Son Nhat Airport**, **40 km** away. - **4:34** Tan Son Nhat handles **40 million** passengers a year, "nowhere near the 100 million" planned for Long Thanh but "enough to cause a problem". It is **oversubscribed** and has **no room to expand**. - **4:49** Like **Chicago O'Hare** or **London City Airport**, it is built in the middle of a city: **Ho Chi Minh City**, Vietnam's most populous. "Basically, this airport is **hemmed in**." - **5:08** The second reason is that Vietnam's **tourism industry is booming**, so the time is right to expand its infrastructure. ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0255.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0275.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0295.webp]] ### 5:10 Building Long Thanh - **5:15** Long Thanh is "a whole lot more than ... just an **overflow facility**". The idea is to make it **the hub for international travel** in the whole of Southeast Asia. - **5:26** When finished it will have **four terminals** shaped like a **lotus**, **Vietnam's national flower**, served by **four runways** of **4,000 m** each. - **5:39** The work is split into **three phases**. The site was **forested**, so phase one began with **clearing and levelling**. - **5:51** In **late 2018**, nearly **2,000 vehicles and machines** were reportedly on site for **earthworks**: digging, filling and rolling across the whole airport boundary, "a truly monumental effort". - **6:07** Then "a particularly sensitive and pressing challenge": **bombs and mines** from the **Vietnam War** were found during excavation. Work stopped for each "sleeping explosive" until it was safely removed. (An on-screen headline reads "Massive 227 kg bomb unearthed during Vietnam airport construction".) - **6:24** Once the site was safe, work started on the **first terminal**, the first **runway** and a **control tower**. - **6:31** The first terminal covers **373,000 m²** over **four levels**. It and its wings have a **steel frame** on **reinforced concrete columns and beams**. - **6:44** Above is a "spectacular" **clear-span roof** spanning **82 m**. A clear-span roof is not held up by masses of internal columns, which gives open, "breathable" spaces, "kind of what you want in an airport". - **7:05** The roof uses **thousands of tonnes of steel** in **five layers**, which together **insulate**, **waterproof** and make it more **durable**. - **7:17** From the terminal you can see that concrete has already been poured for the **first 4,000 m runway**. - **7:24** A **123 m** **control tower** shaped like a **lotus bud** is going up. The whole site is closed off by an **8,668 m boundary wall**. - **7:46** At the end of **phase one** the airport will handle **25 million passengers** and **1.2 million tonnes of cargo** a year. - **7:54** **Phase two** adds **two more terminals** and **another runway**. In the **final phase**, a **fourth terminal** and **two more 4,000 m runways** make Long Thanh "one of the world's biggest airports". - **8:13** Capacity then reaches **100 million passengers** and **5 million tonnes of cargo**, rivalling the world's busiest airport, **Hartsfield-Jackson** in **Atlanta**. - **8:23** To move that many people to and from **Ho Chi Minh City**, the local **road network** is being transformed, and **two rail lines** are planned for anyone who doesn't fancy the **40 km** drive. ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0320.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0345.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0375.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0395.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0420.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0465.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0490.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0510.webp]] ### 8:46 The dust problem - **8:42** "It hasn't exactly been plain sailing." The biggest problem so far has been **dust**, and not "the stuff that collects on your TV stand". - **9:00** The site sits on **red basalt soil**, which throws up "dramatic clouds of colourful dust" when disturbed. - **9:09** Wind and the wheels of thousands of site vehicles have carried it to **residential areas up to 7 km away**. - **9:22** Residents have had **breathing problems**, and some said the coughing was "worse than at the height of the **pandemic**". - **9:30** **Crops** have been coated in dust. If they can't **photosynthesise** they can't grow, so they quickly die off. - **9:39** The government is being "slated for a **lack of preparedness**". When it finally acted, with **reservoirs** to damp down the ground and **speed limits** on vehicles, "a lot of the damage had been done." ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0540.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0560.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0580.webp]] ### 10:04 Cost concerns - **10:00** Even before work started, people worried about **the cost**. The terminals will be "visually remarkable" but "definitely don't come cheap". - **10:14** The **lotus-themed design** needs a "serious number of **curves**", and **curved architecture** is "a whole lot more expensive than **right angles**". - **10:25** Curved shapes are technical and labour-intensive to engineer. Beyond the "fiddly geometric calculations", some materials "just don't like to bend": **concrete** becomes **brittle** when curved, and the **thicker the steel**, the harder it is to shape. - **10:45** Vietnam is now one of Southeast Asia's **fastest-growing economies**, but when the airport was **proposed in 2006** the country was near the start of its growth. Trade was rising and poverty falling. - **11:01** Residents worried that **long-term debt** from loans for Long Thanh "could set the nation back", and there are "still concerns over the **massive price-tag**". ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0615.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0635.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0660.webp]] ### 11:20 Does Vietnam need this? - **11:24** "Does Vietnam actually need this?" In **Q1 2025** Vietnam recorded the **sixth-highest growth in international arrivals worldwide**, **up 30%** on the same period in 2024 and the highest ("top-dog") in the **Asia-Pacific**. - **11:44** Together with Boeing's forecast of **tripling air traffic**, demand to travel there "is obvious". - **11:51** The "glaring problem" is that big airports in the region are already **expanding from a position of strength**. Long Thanh is surely based on "meticulous market research", but it "does feel like a bit of a **gamble**". - **12:08** Comfort comes from the **phased approach**: the government can **monitor capacity and passenger demand** at each stage. - **12:20** Who wins the race? "The **safe money** would say **Changi**", the region's "kingpin", which will likely finish its redevelopment long before Long Thanh reaches full capacity. - **12:34** But given the region's growth, "who's to say the region could only host **one successful mega-hub**?" Long Thanh may not win the race, but "don't discount its potential to become one of the world's next **airport giants**." - **12:55** Closing plug: The B1M's **investment in Brick Borrow**, a **LEGO subscription service** (brickborrow.com), "inspiring the next generation of airport builders". ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0690.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0730.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0775.webp]] ![[images/Why-Asia-is-Getting-Another-Mega-Airport-t0800.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Airports and projects - **Long Thanh International Airport** (Long Thành, **Dong Nai province**, about 40 km from Ho Chi Minh City): **USD $16BN** (video figure), **5,000 ha**, built in **three phases**. At completion it will have **four lotus-inspired terminals** and **four 4,000 m runways** for **100 million passengers** and **5 million tonnes** of cargo a year. Not in the video: the first official flight, Vietnam Airlines **VN1** (a Boeing 787 from Hanoi), landed on **19 December 2025**, and commercial operations were planned for the first half of 2026 ([Tuổi Trẻ](https://news.tuoitre.vn/southern-vietnams-long-thanh-intl-airport-welcomes-first-official-flight-103251219152239486.htm), [ACI Asia-Pacific](https://www.aci-asiapac.aero/media-centre/news/inauguration-ceremony-for-infrastructure-projects-and-the-first-flight-operation-at-long-thanh-international-airport)). - Phase one: a **373,000 m²** four-level terminal with an **82 m clear-span** five-layer steel roof, the **first 4,000 m runway**, a **123 m lotus-bud control tower** and an **8,668 m boundary wall**, for **25 million passengers** and **1.2 million tonnes** a year - **Tan Son Nhat International Airport** (Ho Chi Minh City): **40 million** passengers a year, oversubscribed, with no room to expand - **Singapore Changi Airport**: **60 million** passengers a year, often called the world's best airport. A **USD $10BN Terminal 5** will lift capacity to **150 million** by the mid-2030s. - **Kuala Lumpur International Airport** (Malaysia): expansion target of **150 million** a year - **Suvarnabhumi Airport** (Bangkok, Thailand): being redeveloped for **120 million** - **Bulacan / New Manila International Airport** (Philippines): **USD $14BN**, for up to **100 million** passengers. The footage is credited to **San Miguel Corporation**, its developer. - Comparisons: **London Heathrow** (Long Thanh's site is more than 4× its size), **Denver International**, **Chicago O'Hare**, **London City Airport** and **Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta** (the world's busiest) - **Two planned rail lines** and an upgraded **road network** to Ho Chi Minh City ### Engineering and construction terms - **Earthworks** (digging, filling and rolling) by nearly **2,000 machines** in late 2018 - **Unexploded ordnance**: bombs and mines from the **Vietnam War** found during excavation - **Steel frame** on **reinforced concrete** columns and beams - **Clear-span roof**: a roof without internal columns, 82 m here, in five steel layers that insulate, waterproof and add durability - **Curved architecture**: costly geometry, brittle curved concrete, and thick steel that is hard to bend - **Phased development**: capacity added in stages as demand is proven - **Red basalt soil** dust, controlled with **reservoirs** for damping and site **speed limits** ### Figures - Boeing forecast: Southeast Asian air traffic to **more than triple** in 20 years - Vietnam: **sixth-highest** growth in international arrivals worldwide in **Q1 2025**, **+30%** year on year, and the highest in the Asia-Pacific - Dust spread up to **7 km** from the site - Airport first **proposed in 2006** - Not in the video: Vietnamese government figures put phase one at about **VND 109 trillion (~USD $4.7BN)** ([CAAV](https://caa.gov.vn/hoat-dong-nganh/chinh-phu-phe-duyet-du-an-dau-tu-xay-dung-cang-hang-khong-quoc-te-long-thanh-giai-doan-1-20201112140245461.htm)) and the whole project at about **VND 336.6 trillion (nearly USD $13BN)** ([Tuổi Trẻ](https://news.tuoitre.vn/southern-vietnams-long-thanh-intl-airport-welcomes-first-official-flight-103251219152239486.htm)), below the video's $16BN. ### Design - **Lotus** (Vietnam's national flower): the inspiration for the terminals' curved form and for the control tower's **lotus bud**. The companion article credits a terminal image to **Arup**, and the description credits **Heerim Architects** and **ADP Ingénierie** footage. ### People and organisations - **Fred Mills** (host); **James Rabey** (companion article author) - **Boeing**; **Penguin Random House**; **Changi Airport Group**; **San Miguel Corporation**; **Heerim Architects**; **ADP Ingénierie**; **Arup** (article image credit) - Not in the video: **Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV)**, the state-controlled investor in the main airport works - Footage credits include Vietnam News Agency, VTV24, VN Express, Báo Tuổi Trẻ, Báo Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, Báo Pháp Luật TP HCM, ITV News and JetlinerSpotting SGN ### Places - **Vietnam**: **Ho Chi Minh City**, **Long Thành / Dong Nai province**; **Singapore**; **Malaysia** (Kuala Lumpur); **Thailand** (Bangkok); **Philippines** (Bulacan, Manila); **China**; **India**; **Atlanta**; **Denver**; **Chicago**; **London** ### The B1M - ***Mega Builds: Ten Colossal Construction Projects That Will Change Our World*** (Fred's book, Penguin Random House, pre-order) - **Brick Borrow** (LEGO subscription service, a B1M investment; closing plug) - **Get Construction Talking**; *The World's Best Construction Podcast* ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Co-founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. Here he presents Long Thanh as Vietnam's "giant gamble" in a regional race with Changi, Kuala Lumpur, Suvarnabhumi and Bulacan. He opens with a long announcement of his first book, ***Mega Builds***, for **Penguin Random House**, insisting he wrote "every single word" himself. ### James Rabey Writer at **The B1M** and author of the companion article *[Why Asia is Getting Another Mega Airport](https://www.theb1m.com/video/why-asia-is-getting-another-mega-airport)* (07 January 2026). It follows the video's script with image captions but leaves out the book plug and the Vietnam War ordnance passage, and it names the Philippine project New Manila International.