Some 7,671 workers and engineers are deployed across Phu Quoc International Airport in southern Vietnam, racing to finish an expansion that must begin operations in April 2027 — months before the island hosts the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later that year.

Launched in September 2025, the project has entered its peak construction phase, and key components are approaching completion despite heavy rain in recent weeks, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Terminal T2 now dominates the site. Its roof, a steel structure inspired by the "Fire Phoenix," has been fully installed. Concrete structures for the main terminal stand roughly 95% complete. Façade work is underway: crews are fitting around 9,500 unitised glass panels to the terminal envelope, while interior teams install electrical, technical and support systems.

The automated baggage handling system is about 60% complete. It spans three floors and more than 8km of conveyance, and it is sized to process roughly 7,560 departing bags and 6,300 arriving bags per hour — throughput consistent with the airport's post-expansion traffic ambitions.

According to the Phu Quoc International Airport project management board, the workforce is spread across six work fronts: the T2 terminal, a VIP terminal, a catering facility, airside infrastructure, the apron and a second runway.

Capacity targets

The expansion is designed to lift the airport's capacity to 20–24 million passengers annually by 2030. Subsequent phases would complete the full "Fire Phoenix" terminal complex, with a planned capacity of 50 million passengers a year. That figure remains a long-term plan rather than a funded, near-term deliverable; the April 2027 opening and the 2030 capacity target are the commitments tied to the current construction push.

The schedule leaves a narrow verification window. A technical flight is scheduled for December 30, 2026 — the first concrete operational test of whether the runway, apron and terminal systems will integrate in time for the April 2027 service date. Roughly six months separate that flight from the planned opening.

Strategic context

Vietnam has positioned the expansion as a key infrastructure project for APEC 2027, and Phu Quoc as an international aviation gateway rather than a purely leisure-market airport. The passenger volumes at stake are substantial: a jump to 20–24 million annual passengers by 2030 implies the terminal complex must handle traffic on a scale comparable to mid-tier Southeast Asian hubs, with the baggage system, apron capacity and second runway all sized accordingly.

For airlines serving the island, the second runway and expanded apron matter as much as the terminal. Additional stand capacity and parallel runway operations would ease scheduling constraints during peak tourist seasons, when Phu Quoc's existing infrastructure has limited wave expansion.

The December technical flight will offer the first hard evidence of whether the schedule holds.