U-Tapao International Airport

U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport
ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา-ระยอง-พัทยา
Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Owner Royal Thai Navy
Operator Department of Airports
Serves Chonburi-Pattaya Metropolitain Area and Rayong
Location Ban Chang, Rayong, Thailand
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 42 ft / 13 m
Coordinates 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°E / 12.67972; 101.00500Coordinates: 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°E / 12.67972; 101.00500
Map
UTP
Location of airport in Thailand
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 3,505 11,500 Asphalt
Statistics
Total passengers (2017)[1] 1,408,258
Freight (tonnes) 37,374
Source: DAFIF[2][3]

U-Tapao International Airport (Thai: ท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติอู่ตะเภา) (IATA: UTP, ICAO: VTBU) also spelled Utapao and U-Taphao, is a joint civil–military public airport serving Rayong and Pattaya cities in Thailand. It is in Ban Chang District of Rayong Province.[4]

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.[5] 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,[6][7] U-Tapao in particular has been eyed as an alternate international gateway due to relative proximity to the capital.

Location

U-Tapao lies approximately 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Bangkok, south of Rte 3 (Thanon Sukhumvit) at km189, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand, about a 45-minute drive from Pattaya (Thailand's most popular beach resort).

History

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War U-Tapao was a military base for United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, called "Bee-hasip-sawng" (B-52) by the local Thais. 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. Entertainer Bob Hope visited the base every year between 1964 and 1972 with his USO Christmas show.[8]

November 2008 protests in Bangkok

U-Taphao Airport Terminal

With the temporary closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport 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.[9][10][11][12][13] Several governments including Italy, Macau and Spain also sent chartered flights to evacuate residents.

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.[11]

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, which will increase airport capacity from 800,000 to three million persons per year. Terminal 2 was opened as in Nov 2017.

There are also 41 direct flights landing from China weekly[14] with more airlines scheduled to announce soon. Airport director, Rear Adm 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 people.[15]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
AirAsia Kuala Lumpur–International
Azur AirSeasonal charter: Krasnoyarsk–Yemelyanovo, Khabarovsk
Bangkok Airways Ko Samui, Phuket
China Southern Airlines Shanghai–Pudong
Donghai Airlines Shenzhen, Wanzhou[16]
Hainan Airlines Haikou, Sanya
Kunming Airlines Kunming
New Gen Airways Charter: Zhengzhou
Nok Air Charter: Baotou, Changsha, Haikou, Linyi, Meixian, Nanchang, Yichang, Yinchuan
Qatar Airways Doha
Seasonal: Yangon
Royal Flight Seasonal charter: Krasnoyarsk–Yemelyanovo
Shenzhen Airlines Guangzhou
Thai AirAsia Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Macau, Meixian, Nanning, Phuket, Udon Thani
Thai Lion Air Changsha[17], Chiang Mai, Haikou[18]
TUI Airways Seasonal charter: Birmingham (begins 26 December 2018),[19] London–Gatwick (begins 26 December 2018),[19] Manchester (begins 27 December 2018)[19]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
K-Mile Air Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi

Accidents and incidents

On 28 October 1977, a Douglas DC-3 of Air Vietnam en route from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, to Duong Dong Airport, Phu Quoc, Vietnam, was hijacked and diverted to U-Tapao Air Base to refuel. Two Vietnamese officials on the aircraft were killed in the hijacking.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Janssen, Peter (2017-06-06). "Military airbase set for commercial take-off in Thailand". Asia Times. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  2. ↑ Airport information for VTBU at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  3. ↑ Airport information for UTP at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  4. ↑ "U Tapao-Pattaya International Airport" (PDF). U Tapao Airport Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  5. ↑ Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "New terminal to boost U-Tapao Airport".
  7. ↑ "Don Mueang is world's busiest LCC". The Nation. 15 September 2015.
  8. ↑ U-tapao back on the map; Bangkok Post, 7–2 Dec, 008 issue.
  9. ↑ "ANA International Flight Status". Fli.ana.co.jp.
  10. ↑ "Cathay Pacific". Cathay Pacific.
  11. 1 2 "Latest update on Bangkok, Utapao and Europe flights". EVA Airways. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "THAI Operates 34 Special Inbound and Outbound Flights on 2 December 2008". THAI. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  13. ↑ Page 6, South China Morning Post, 30 November 2008.
  14. ↑ http://www.utapao.com/
  15. ↑ "U-Tapao airport takes new leap". Bangkok Post. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Donghai Airlines adds Wanzhou – Utapao from late-May 2018". routesonline. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Flight Information". utapao.com. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  18. ↑ "Thai Lion Air adds Utapao – Haikou service from May 2018". routesonline. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  19. 1 2 3 Liu, Jim (26 August 2018). "TUI Airways UK schedules new South East Asia routes in W18". Routesonline. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "Hijacking description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.

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