Hanoi (VNA) – Large-scale airport projects underway across the Asia-Pacific region are expected to boost air traffic, with Vietnam and India emerging as markets with significant potential.
As the Asia-Pacific region is projected to become the world’s largest and fastest-growing aviation market in the coming decades, many large-scale airport projects are in the pipeline in the Republic of Korea, Australia, China, India and Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, according to an article on The Business Times (Singapore) on August 14.
Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai city, southern Vietnam, is one of the notable projects. It is expected to begin operations in late 2026, with an initial capacity of 25 million passengers per year. Costing about 19 billion USD, the airport’s final phase, scheduled for after 2035, will raise its capacity to 100 million passengers annually, making it one of the world’s largest airports, it wrote.
Vietnam is considered one of the most promising markets in Southeast Asia in terms of international visitor numbers and travel demand. The country plans to increase the number of airports to 30 by 2030 to meet the needs of its rapidly growing economy. Notably, over the past two months, Vietnam has overtaken Thailand to become the second-largest aviation market in Southeast Asia in terms of passenger capacity.
According to the article, along with the continued expansion of Vietnam Airlines’ fleet and route network, Long Thanh Airport has the potential to become a new transit hub.
India is also a market with enormous potential and is becoming a driving force for aviation growth in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is currently the world’s third-largest single aviation market. In 2024, the country recorded 174 million passengers on domestic and international flights departing from India. The number of flights increased from 800,000 in 2015 to 1.8 million in 2024.
India is also investing in major airport projects. A new airport in Mumbai opened in 2025 and is expected to handle 90 million passengers annually by 2032 after the completion of its third phase. Adjusting strategies to attract connecting flights and easing visa regulations could help India develop into a major air transit hub.
Singapore and Hong Kong (China) still hold significant advantages due to their strategic locations, infrastructure and airlines with extensive international networks. However, the rapid development of markets such as Vietnam and India is opening up the possibility of new aviation hubs emerging in the region./.
