It was the first compensation paid to households living in priority areas as part of land clearance for the airport’s first phase.

The highest compensation given Monday to a household was VND16.5 billion ($710,000) and the lowest, nearly VND600 million ($25,800).

"We have been waiting for this for many years. The compensation price is lower than the market price, but for the sake of the country and the locality, my family accepts it," said Doan Hung Dung, a resident of Binh Son Commune as he completed transfer procedures at the office of Long Thanh District People's Committee.

Dung received VND5 billion ($215,000) in compensation for 1.2 hectares of land. He said he plans to use the money to invest in business.

The highest compensation price per square meter given Monday was VND6.5 million ($280), and the lowest was VND161,000 ($7).

According to authorities, the first phase of construction covers 1,810 hectares, of which 630 hectares are home to more than 1,000 households and the remaining area belongs to Dong Nai Rubber Corporation Company Limited.

The province has paid compensation to the corporation, which is expected to hand over the site in the third quarter of 2020.

Long Thanh District authorities have completed compensation documents for 600 households, and are yet to do so for the remaining 407.

Of the 600 households, the compensation amount for 403 has been settled and they are sorting out issues with documentation and verifying area differences for the remaining, district officials said.

Dong Nai Province will have to reclaim 5,000 hectares in total for the whole project.

In April, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam had said that construction work on the first phase of the Long Thanh Airport could begin next May and be completed by late 2025 if it was assigned to be the project investor.

Also last month, Dong Nai began work on a 280-hectare resettlement area for relocated families. It is expected that the first 700 households will move to their new homes in August.

Last November, over 90 percent of lawmakers voted in approval of a resolution on a feasibility study report to build the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport. After the first phase is complete, the airport will have one runway and one terminal with the capacity of handling 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year. Investment in the first phase is set to cost almost VND111.69 trillion ($4.8 billion).

After all three phases of the airport are completed by 2050 at a total estimated cost of VND336.63 trillion ($16 billion), it will be able to handle 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo a year, picking up overflow from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, which is currently operating at far above its designed capacity.