Multi billion baht upgrades for Isaan airports as international flights promised at end of year

[webfact]

Multi billion baht upgrades for Isaan airports as international flights promised at end of year

 

Picture: Daily News

 

The director of Thai airports revealed yesterday that some 8 billion baht has been allocated to upgrade three North Eastern Thai airports to improve travel and communications in the region.

 

While the chief of Khon Kaen airport expects direct flights to Laos to begin at the end of this year.

 

Airports' boss Darun Saengchai was making an inspection visit to Khon Kaen airport where he told Daily News that 8.1 billion baht is being spent on upgrading that airport as well as Udon Thani and Ubon Ratchathani.

 

Atthaya Lapmark, director of Khon Kaen airport said that at present four carriers served his airport.

 

He said that Thai Air Asia is expected to introduce a direct flight to Phuket soon that will operate once per day. The airline also have plans to offer a service to U-Tapao near Pattaya.

 

Lao Central Airlines are also preparing to offer two flights into Laos at the end of this year, he said.

 

These would be on the Khon Kaen - Luang Prabang and Khon Kaen - Vientiane routes.

 

Also in the pipeline is a Thai Air Asia route from Khon Kaen - Kunming though this will come later after more discussion.

 

Source: Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-09-07

[apex2000]

"Ubon Ratchasima"? Is that Ubon Ratchathani or Nakhon Ratchasima? Or both?

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, apex2000 said:

"Ubon Ratchasima"? Is that Ubon Ratchathani or Nakhon Ratchasima? Or both?

It is Ubon Ratchathani. That is what it says on the Daily News website in Thai.

Just a translation error or a typo.

[PETERTHEEATER]

If multiple Thai based airlines are still grounded due to safety concerns does the upgrade really matter?

[KhunBENQ]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that Thai Air Asia is expected to introduce a direct flight to Phuket soon that will operate once per day. The airline also have plans to offer a service to U-Tapao near Pattaya.

I would shout hooray !!

A little known fact: Khon Kaen airport has already been enabled for international flights since quite a while.

Two immigration desks and now separate gated baggage belt for international arrivals with customs checkpoint.

 

22 minutes ago, apex2000 said:

"Ubon Ratchasima"? Is that Ubon Ratchathani or Nakhon Ratchasima? Or both?

Ubon Ratchathani of course.

There are still no plans to open scheduled flights from Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat).

[KhunBENQ]

5 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

If multiple Thai based airlines are still grounded due to safety concerns does the upgrade really matter?

Not quite sure what the connection is.

None of the major domestic carriers is affected.

The grounded are hardly known to most expats/foreigners.

[Searat7]

I thought Lao Central Airlnes went out of business quite a while ago. Before they had one old 737 with flights from BKK to Vientiane and from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. 

[SantiSuk]

Ubon has hung onto calling itself Ubon International Airport even though an odd international route closed down many moons ago. The airport is still configured with international and domestic facilities

 

Would love to see a Phnomn Penh to Ubon to Hanoi hopping route m'self.

[Bangkok Barry]

33 minutes ago, Searat7 said:

I thought Lao Central Airlnes went out of business quite a while ago. Before they had one old 737 with flights from BKK to Vientiane and from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. 

You are correct, according to Wikipedia. Perhaps someone should tell the Khon Kaen airport director, as he obviously doesn't have a clue.

 

Lao Central Airlines Public Company, operating as Lao Central Airlines, was an airline in Laos with its head office in Wattayyaithong Village, Sikhottabong District, Vientiane.[1] The airline was founded in 2010, and ceased operations in 2014.

[Travel2003]

A happy day for many local officials with deep pockets.

[gintis0604]

4 hours ago, apex2000 said:

"Ubon Ratchasima"? Is that Ubon Ratchathani or Nakhon Ratchasima? Or both?

There is no airport in Nakhon Ratchasima.

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, gintis0604 said:

There is no airport in Nakhon Ratchasima.

There is one but no airline at this time is flying into it.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Ratchasima_Airport

[jgm005]

What they need to do is expand the parking at Udon Thani (UTH) airport. 

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, gintis0604 said:

There is no airport in Nakhon Ratchasima.

There is.

Like Udon Thani it is attached to one of the biggest airforce bases.

Has a history with the US air force during Vietnam war (Korat RTAFB).

(you can find many pictures and some videos on the net, nostalgia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korat_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base

 

I passed by with the car a couple of times and occasionally some trainer jet flies over.

 

During the 2007 Asean Games in N.K. it was busy with shuttle flights to and from Bangkok (officials and participants).

But as above: no commercial/scheduled traffic now and unlikely in the future (just too close to Bangkok?).

 

[silverado1]

few years before they tried commercial flights in surin, never succed... no customers i believe... so there ,  (only ?) financial mechanism  was not enough to be efficient i believe ...

Khwaibah should be mor precise about what happened with those previous attempts in surin

Edited September 7, 2017 by silverado1

[frankganderson]

There is a large civilian airport in Chalerm Phrakiet district of Korat, not near the base as someone wrongly cited.

Also, the 'Ubon Ratchasima' was also an editorial oversight. Typos get through because the publication does not check well. Some ignorance appears to possibly have been involved, as once you write something down before publishing you do need to review it.

[starky]

10 hours ago, jgm005 said:

What they need to do is expand the parking at Udon Thani (UTH) airport. 

Thats what theyve been doing for the past 8 months isnt it?

[tso310]

1 hour ago, frankganderson said:

There is a large civilian airport in Chalerm Phrakiet district of Korat, not near the base as someone wrongly cited.

 

The airbase was used by Thai Air in the mid-late 80s and by Andaman Air in 2005 if I remember correctly. I flew from Don Muang to Korat in about 25 minutes on a Thai B737 on more than one occasion. The RTAF were never happy with civilian use of the base even if it was only 1 flight a day. 

The airport you refer to has been a white elephant. The only services I can recall were by Kan Air a couple of years ago. With the advent of the high speed rail link which should be running before the end of the century, pick you calendar, the airports future is not very rosey.

[rickudon]

Five to six years ago, you could park directly in front of the terminal at Udon Thani airport no problem. By last year it had become a real problem. The current reorganisation has improved parking slightly, but needs to be better. The one thing missing is no airport bus service. That would reduce parking problems considerably. If international flights start, it would be a must have.

[DILLIGAD]

Five to six years ago, you could park directly in front of the terminal at Udon Thani airport no problem. By last year it had become a real problem. The current reorganisation has improved parking slightly, but needs to be better. The one thing missing is no airport bus service. That would reduce parking problems considerably. If international flights start, it would be a must have.

This exactly mirrors Ubon International Airport/parking.


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