Completed 20 flights on the first day of calibration flight at Long Thanh Airport

Beech King Air 350ER aircraft with registration number B350 performed a calibration flight at Long Thanh Airport on September 26. Photo: Pham Tung

The first plane approaches the runway of Long Thanh Airport

At around 6:10 a.m. on September 26, Beech King Air 350ER aircraft numbered B350 conducted a calibration flight at Long Thanh Airport. This was the first flight in a series of calibration flights that will last for about a month.

According to the reporter's records, after entering the airspace of Long Thanh Airport from the North, the plane lowered its altitude to approach runway 1 of Long Thanh Airport. Then, the plane continued to fly low along runway 1 before accelerating and regaining altitude to perform a new flight.

To serve this first calibration flight, from around 4am, the authorities were present to check the entire runway, ensuring that the technical system was operating stably and without obstacles. After that, the fire prevention, fire fighting and medical forces were also in position to be ready, ensuring a rescue plan in all situations.

About 40 minutes later, the entire runway lighting system was turned on in preparation for the first calibration flight at Long Thanh Airport.

Meanwhile, on the 20th floor of the Long Thanh Airport air traffic control tower, air-to-air equipment is installed to connect aircraft and air traffic controllers. A team of air traffic instructors is also set up by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) and the Air Traffic Management Engineering Company Limited (ATTECH), a member unit of VATM, to guide and support calibration flights at Long Thanh Airport.

According to ATTECH representative, previously, in August 2025, flights to evaluate flight methods according to PBN (performance-based navigation) standards at Long Thanh Airport were also completed.

There has been careful preparation for the calibration flight.

According to the representative of ATTECH, the unit providing calibration flight services for Long Thanh Airport, calibration flight is an activity of measurement, testing, and evaluation to ensure that all aviation equipment systems installed at the airport will be thoroughly inspected and evaluated. Only when determining that they meet all safety conditions according to all international aviation standards will they be allowed to be put into operation. For all new airport construction projects, the first thing to do before granting a license to put into operation is to carry out calibration flights and during the entire operation of the equipment after the first calibration and acceptance flight, there will continue to be periodic calibration flights carried out in cycles of 6 months and 12 months. This is a very important activity, because without the results of the accepted calibration flights and annual periodic calibration flights, the license to operate will not be granted.

For Long Thanh Airport, according to the progress requirements set by the Government , the inspection and evaluation flight work requires the unit providing inspection and calibration flight services to arrange very flexibly to meet the progress. Therefore, since 2024, ATTECH has also taken steps to prepare for the calibration flight work at Long Thanh Airport.

This calibration flight is extremely important so that the first technical flight will land at Long Thanh Airport on December 19, 2025. This calibration flight is expected to be deployed from September 26 to October 24, 2025, lasting nearly a month, during which time evaluation flights will be conducted on many contents.

Also according to the ATTECH representative, on the first day of the Long Thanh Airport calibration flight, 20 technical test flights were completed. The results of the entire calibration flight will be summarized and evaluated in a final report to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The final calibration flight results will be the basis for granting the necessary licenses to put Long Thanh Airport into operation.

Pham Tung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202509/hoan-thanh-20-bai-bay-trong-ngay-daubay-hieu-chuan-san-bay-long-thanh-5d300f2/