U-Tapao International Airport

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U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport (Template:Comma separated entries), also spelled Utapao and U-Taphao, is a joint civil–military public international airport serving the cities of Rayong and Pattaya in Eastern Thailand. It is in the Ban Chang district of Rayong province.[1][2]

It also serves as the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, home of the Royal Thai Navy First Air Wing. U-Tapao is the home of a large Thai Airways maintenance facility, servicing that airline's aircraft as well as those of other customers.[3] Due to the blockade of Bangkok's airports by opposition protesters, U-Tapao briefly became the main air gateway to Thailand between 26 November and 5 December 2008. As both of Bangkok's international airports essential to the country's tourist boom are operating beyond capacity as of 2015,[4][5] U-Tapao in particular has been eyed as an alternate international gateway due to its relative proximity to the capital.

Location

U-Tapao lies approximately Template:Convert southeast of Bangkok, south of Sukhumvit Road at Km. 189, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand, about a 45-minute drive from Pattaya (Thailand's most popular beach resort).

History

Vietnam War

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U-Tapao was built by the United States to accommodate B-52 bombers for missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.[6] Construction began on 15 October 1965 and was completed on 2 June 1966.[7] U-Tapao was the primary Southeast Asian airfield for USAF B-52 bombers, called "Bee-hasip-sawng" (B-52) by the local Thais.[8] U-Tapao was a front-line base along with the other US bases at Korat, Udon, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, and Takhli. The USAF B-52s made regular sorties over North Vietnam and North Vietnamese-controlled areas in Laos, carrying an average of 108 500-pound and 750-pound bombs per mission. U-Tapao was a regular stop on Bob Hope's Christmas shows for the troops.[9]

November 2008 protests in Bangkok

With the temporary closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in late November 2008 because they had been occupied by anti-government protestors, U-Tapao became for a time Thailand's main supplementary international gateway. Many airlines arranged special flights to and from U-Tapao to ferry international passengers stranded by the closure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.[10][11]Template:Cbignore[12][13][14] Several governments including Italy, Macau and Spain also sent chartered flights to evacuate residents.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

As many as 100,000 passengers were stranded in Thailand until early December. Although its runway can accommodate large aircraft, U-Tapao's terminals are not designed to handle more than a few flights a day. Travellers were subject to many hardships, and as the security was not up-to-date, some US-bound flights were diverted to Japan and their passengers required to go through a supplementary security check before continuing.[12]

Airport expansion

As Bangkok's two international airports are operating beyond capacity, the government intends to turn U-Tapao into a third major destination for airlines. A new second terminal will increase airport capacity from 800,000 to three million persons per year. Terminal 2 was partially opened in November 2018 and was officially opened in February 2019.[15]

There were also 41 direct flights landing from China weekly.[16] Airport director, Rear Admiral Worapol Tongpricha, said the 620 million baht terminal is the start of a three-year, first-phase development. In the second phase, the government will boost the capacity further to 15 million passengers per year.[17]

In November 2022, the Thai Government approved another expansion plan for U-Tapao, to increase its capacity to 60 million passengers per year. It is planned to add a new runway, taxiways and facilities to increase Pattaya's and Bangkok's air passenger capacity, and also boost connections to the Eastern Economic Corridor.[18]

Concessions

In late 2018, King Power was awarded a ten-year contract to operate U-Tapao duty-free shops. A partnership between Thai retailer Central Department Store Company (Central Group) and DFS Group will manage retail shops and services, mainly food and beverage, also for 10 years.[19]

Airlines and destinations

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Cargo

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Accidents and incidents

References

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External links

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  14. ↑ Page 6, South China Morning Post, 30 November 2008.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
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