Unskilled workers must also know English.

Mr. Vo Tan Duc, acting Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, said that Long Thanh airport (phase 1) is expected to officially come into operation in September 2026, so we must calculate the human resources to serve it from now on. Specifically, when Long Thanh airport comes into operation, it will need 13,769 workers (5 PhDs; 405 masters; 5,393 university graduates; 2,249 college and intermediate graduates; 3,816 primary graduates and 1,901 unskilled workers). "Human resources for aviation is a special profession, with conditions, requiring a license from a specialized agency. Currently, the whole country has 25 units qualified to train in the aviation field but there is no facility located in Dong Nai, so it is necessary to calculate and combine to train human resources for Long Thanh airport," said Mr. Duc.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phong, Head of the Long Thanh International Airport Operation Preparation Board (under the Vietnam Airports Corporation - ACV), said that phase 1 alone requires about 11,000 - 12,000 officers and employees (not including port authorities, customs, border police, international health quarantine forces, and animal and plant quarantine). After that, depending on the level of automation technology application in the operation phase, the human resources required for the operation of Long Thanh airport will be adjusted accordingly.

"Regarding the capacity and professional requirements for managers and leaders, they must have graduated from a regular university and have a minimum English score of TOEIC 500 or equivalent or higher. For skilled workers, they must have graduated from a regular university or college and have a minimum English score of TOEIC 400 or equivalent or higher. As for unskilled workers, they must have graduated from high school or higher and also have a minimum English score of TOEIC 300 or equivalent or higher," said Mr. Phong.

Many schools are committed to meeting human resources needs.

At the conference on training human resources for Long Thanh airport operations recently organized by the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, leaders of many universities and colleges in the area as well as Ho Chi Minh City committed to providing enough human resources. Dr. Dinh Cong Khai, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, committed to training human resources in related fields for Dong Nai such as logistics, tourism, development planning and smart urban areas, leadership and economic management, etc.

"The establishment of Long Thanh airport is an opportunity for Dong Nai to enhance its position on the economic map of Vietnam and the world. Therefore, training human resources that are fast, sensitive and adaptable to the new context cannot be delayed any longer. Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics wants to cooperate in training human resources with in-depth professional knowledge and skills to meet the requirements when Long Thanh airport comes into operation," Dr. Khai affirmed.

Similarly, a representative of Lilama 2 International College of Technology (Long Thanh District, Dong Nai) said that it has proactively signed a cooperation agreement with Vietjet Aviation Academy (June 2023) to train human resources in the aviation sector such as aircraft and aircraft equipment maintenance and repair staff; flight dispatchers and operators; aviation equipment operators and vehicles operating in restricted areas of airports and ground handling staff serving flights. To participate in these majors, students must have a minimum TOEIC English proficiency of 450.

Currently, in Dong Nai, there are 5 universities, 15 colleges and intermediate schools with the capacity to enroll and train from 20,000 to 25,000 students. However, these training facilities are not qualified to train in aviation according to the regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. In this context, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Vu Quynh, Vice Principal of Lac Hong University, it is necessary to cooperate with educational investors specializing in aviation to train more effectively than establishing new schools.

With the advantage of being located close to Long Thanh airport, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Song, Principal of the Eastern University of Technology, also committed to training a series of professions for qualified students to serve Long Thanh airport. However, Mr. Song requested that the authorities must have specific information on the needs of each profession, job position, knowledge and skill requirements for workers for each development stage of Long Thanh airport; work with the school to build and improve short- and long-term training programs; support leading experts to participate in teaching, guiding practice and internship for students...

Poorly prepared human resources can easily lead to costly consequences…

Mr. Nguyen Hong Linh, Secretary of Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee, said that human resources for Long Thanh airport is only a small factor, Dong Nai must prepare for the entire airport area. "Long Thanh airport is 5,000 hectares wide, but there are up to 30,000 hectares developed around it. Long Thanh is a future airport city surrounded by high-tech industrial parks, logistics activities, retail industry, tourism... Therefore, we must not only prepare human resources for Long Thanh airport but also prepare for the development of the entire airport area. Internationally branded airports must have well-trained human resources before being put into use. If we do not prepare carefully, there will be mistakes in the development process, which will easily cost us. Therefore, we cannot be careless in training human resources," Mr. Linh emphasized.

From there, the Secretary of Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee encouraged local universities to cooperate with aviation universities to open more faculties and training majors to improve both quality and quantity.