by Paul Rujopakarn
    
BANGKOK (NNT) - The Cabinet has approved in principle a plan to massively expand U-Tapao Airport in Rayong province to develop its capacity for accommodating commercial flights by adding a new runway, taxiways and facilities.

 

According to Government Spokesperson Ratchada Dhnadirek, the expansion will serve business operations based in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

 

The aim is to serve up to 60 million yearly passengers and transform the airport closest to the popular tourist city of Pattaya into a major international travel hub. Most passengers are currently being served by Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, along with Phuket International Airport.

 

The U-Tapao expansion was originally launched in October 2019 by the Royal Thai Navy on a budget of 17.77 billion baht. The Ministry of Finance has been tasked with seeking the remaining 16.31 billion baht to fund the project.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG221105172011484

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-11-07

 

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Is this airport with proximity to Pattaya currently used by any airlines? Air Asia flew there from KL awhile back. Was an alternative to DM. They began with a few daily's but eventually one. Probably none now.

They've been filling in land nearby for the past 12+ months. You could tell something big going on. Right now the only domestic flights are CM. Samui and Phuket. 

1 hour ago, Haveasay said:

Is this airport with proximity to Pattaya currently used by any airlines? Air Asia flew there from KL awhile back. Was an alternative to DM. They began with a few daily's but eventually one. Probably none now.

Qatar flew in and out from Doha for a spell. You know how it goes, build it and they will come. Better roads nowadays, when it was just Sukhumvit it was a dead loss. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

to serve up to 60 million yearly passengers

When will they EVER get this many?

 

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

They've been filling in land nearby for the past 12+ months. You could tell something big going on. Right now the only domestic flights are CM. Samui and Phuket. 

As usual a monopoly results in stupid prices; it's probably cheaper to fly to Europe than the local islands.

Need to also do something structured re land travel to/from the airport and Pattaya. 

Three years back I flew CM to Utapao. We departed CM very early so had to wait quite a while for my son to come and pick me up.

 

During the 30 minutes I sat there continuous strong harrassment from local transport operators and other traders.

Plus they had a rule if you step outside of the main building you cannot come back inside. Had to sit all the time in the very hot sun.

Unpleasant, no need for such situation, can be different. 

 

Also how many times have they announced 'big expansion at Utapao' in the last 10 years?   

An old friend of mine, currently on holiday in Vietnam, is coming to visit me in Pattaya on Thursday. I was surprised that he was able to get a flight to U Tapao from there. Convenient for us both, anyway. 

What about the high speed railroad going from Suv. to Pattaya ? I flew in the past several times from U-Tapaoand besides being a very local airport there was no benefit from flying from there . It is closer then Suv. , but in time , the difference is not huge ( ok 45m vs 90 min ) . In order to get more tourists , maybe it is a good plan , if Suv is working at full capacity . Otherwise , high speed railroads are much better option imho .

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

An old friend of mine, currently on holiday in Vietnam, is coming to visit me in Pattaya on Thursday. I was surprised that he was able to get a flight to U Tapao from there. Convenient for us both, anyway. 

 

What airline is flying that route? 

Back in the day, Air Asia (FD) had two daily flights between Udon Thani and U-Tapao and I used this service weekly. The big drawback then was shuttling between the airport and Pattaya (where my family lived). The minibus service dropping off people in/around Pattaya would give me the big ride on the merry-go-round and worked only U-Tapao-Pattaya. Took it once as the flight (50 mins) was in no relation to the minibus (130 minutes). Pattaya back to U-Tapao = hopless, Thai-style. 

The taxi mafia creamed off anything between 1'200 - 1'500 Baht for a 40kms trip between U-Tapao to Pattaya, Nong Khai-Udon (70kms) was 600 Baht. 

At the end, I opted Udon Thani-Suvannaphoum and a private taxi (Camry, Accord) to Pattaya for 1'000 Baht. Eight daily services (and many more in Don Muang is an option), marginally more time consuming and overall considerably cheaper. 

But then, the big wigs deciding on whose pockets are being lined next, don't fly coach and use buses and taxis from/to airports ..... I assume ???? 

On 11/7/2022 at 12:13 PM, Leaver said:

 

What airline is flying that route? 

No idea. He was doing the Halong Bay tour near Hanoi on Monday so I'm not even sure if he's flying here from there or travelling down to Saigon for the trip. The flight's supposed to arrive at UTP at 2:30 on the 10th, anyway.

interesting, could you please ask more info to your friend since it's not in the list

https://www.utapao.com/th/flight-schedule

 

I used Utapao to fly to Chiang May last march, when they seems to reopen the airport after covid.

 

instead the opposite, after that they stopped all flights and no update of flights here

https://www.utapao.com/en/flights/International-Arrivals

18 hours ago, Guderian said:

No idea. He was doing the Halong Bay tour near Hanoi on Monday so I'm not even sure if he's flying here from there or travelling down to Saigon for the trip. The flight's supposed to arrive at UTP at 2:30 on the 10th, anyway.

 

I just checked the flight status at Utapeo Airport, today being the 10th.  No international arrivals from Vietnam listed at the time of this post. 

 

I would also be interested in this route, if you can confirm with your friend. 

 

On 11/7/2022 at 10:54 AM, sezze said:

What about the high speed railroad going from Suv. to Pattaya ? I flew in the past several times from U-Tapaoand besides being a very local airport there was no benefit from flying from there . It is closer then Suv. , but in time , the difference is not huge ( ok 45m vs 90 min ) . In order to get more tourists , maybe it is a good plan , if Suv is working at full capacity . Otherwise , high speed railroads are much better option imho .

with the 7 road extension i would think within 30 minutes you coulsd be in pattaya subject to traffic within Pattaya

 

lots of building work going on the east side of the airport