Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport is the busiest airport in Vietnam with 32.5 million passengers in 2016, serving Ho Chi Minh City as well as the rest of south-eastern Vietnam. As of January 2017, it had a total capacity of only 25 million passengers, which has caused constant congestion and sparked debate for expanding or building a new airport. The airport's IATA code, SGN, is derived from the city's former name of Saigon.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport has its origins in the early 1930s, when the French colonial government constructed a small airport with unpaved runways, known as Tân Sơn Nhất Airfield near the village of Tan Son Nhat. By mid-1956, with U.S. aid, a 7,200-foot (2,190 m) runway had been built and the airfield near Saigon became known as South Vietnam's principal international gateway. During the Vietnam War (or Second Indochina War), Tan Son Nhut Air Base was an important facility for both the U.S. Air Force and the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. Between 1968 and 1974, Tan Son Nhut Airport was one of the busiest military airbases in the world.
On 9 December 2004, United Airlines became the first U.S. airline to fly to Vietnam since Pan Am's last flight during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. Since then international traffic has increased considerably requiring a new terminal which was completed in 2006 funded by Japanese official development assistance and constructed by a consortium of four Japanese contractors. However urgent expansion of the terminal was soon needed, the first phase being completed in December 2016 with an addition of 2 new jet bridges and other facilities.