U-Tapao Airport is Pretty Dead

[hotandsticky]

28 minutes ago, MarcelV said:

Has UTP ever been anything but dead? And the local honchos keep talking crap about it becoming a third Bangkok gateway. Really? ????

Well, they are putting the road network in.

 

Give me Utapao over Don Muaeng anyway.

Edited July 3, 2023 by hotandsticky

[The Fugitive]

6 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Very much so, and I used it regularly for all my Air Asia Fly-Thru flights to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma.

Very handy indeed - avoided the Immigration queues at DMK. The service at Khon Kaen was paid for by Air Asia for its "Fly-Thru" international passengers ONLY. Of interest to me, the desk was often manned by my local  "friendly" Immigration Officer. This was pre-pandemic.

Very good info thanks. Most useful to know!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

Well, they are putting the road network in.

 

Give me Utapao over Don Muaeng anyway.

 

Unlike UTP, there's a currently operating BTS-like rail line connecting to Don Mueang that makes it pretty much accessible from most anywhere in Bangkok. (Though there is a bit of a walk from the Red Line's DMK station into the airport terminal).

 

[hydraides]

Its too close to BKK to be a successful airport........It saves what (30 minutes?) to get to Pattaya. Makes no differences for international travel and hardly any difference for domestic unless commuting everyday

 

BKK has all the advantages of connections etc to get to other places , more flights etc

 

Also Pattaya just reminds you of low class, dirty old farang men. So do families really want to take themselves and children on a flight and be surrounded by a bunch of sex tourists?............

 

This is why It will probably never become successful internationally

 

I doubt it will ever become a successful airport 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by hydraides

[jacko45k]

10 hours ago, hydraides said:

Also Pattaya just reminds you of low class, dirty old farang men. So do families really want to take themselves and children on a flight and be surrounded by a bunch of sex tourists?............

I have never regarded UTP as 'Pattaya' airport. It is simply rather too far off and I always remember the old situation of trying to get to and from  there by Sukhumvit, which was hopeless..... 

It perhaps suits those who have settled in Na Jomtiem of Huay Yai... 

Topic isn't about the types of tourists in Pattaya, but some soapbox warriors always come along. 

 

[Peterw42]

People don't seem to realize, UTP airport was very busy prior to covid. 3-4 daily flights from China, Russia, flights to KL, Singapore, and flights to all the domestic ports. Air asia used to run an hourly shuttle bus from pattaya. You can be there in 30 minutes as there is never any traffic.

I used to fly home to Australia from there, a quick flight down to KL, then an overnight to Sydney. A couple of flights to Chang mai, a flight to kon kaen. I literally didn't use the Bangkok airports for 5 years.

 

[herfiehandbag]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:55 AM, Danderman123 said:

I pay Bolt 500 baht to go to U-Tapao, and with the new motorway, it's a short ride.

 

I pay 1000+ baht to go to Suvarnaphumi.

But then you can fly to pretty well anywhere in the world from Suvarnabhumi, and even more so domestically if you include Don Muang. U-Tapao, as you have said, doesn't really have any flights to anywhere!

[EVENKEEL]

It was nice and so convenient before when you had flights to Udon and Sakon Nakhon from Utapao. 

[BKKBike09]

12 hours ago, hydraides said:

Its too close to BKK to be a successful airport........It saves what (30 minutes?) to get to Pattaya. Makes no differences for international travel and hardly any difference for domestic unless commuting everyday

 

BKK has all the advantages of connections etc to get to other places , more flights etc

 

Also Pattaya just reminds you of low class, dirty old farang men. So do families really want to take themselves and children on a flight and be surrounded by a bunch of sex tourists?............

 

This is why It will probably never become successful internationally

 

I doubt it will ever become a successful airport 

If the casino (integrated resort) plans get off the ground and Pattaya is selected as a location, it will get a massive boost. Bangkok Airways is taking the lead on developing UTP and in fact recently (May) announced they're putting another USD 135 million into the development company.

(https://weblink.set.or.th/dat/news/202305/1219NWS250520231853130099E.pdf)

 

The Bangkok Airways owners (Prasarttong-Osoth family) are hugely influential so I'd suspect that they have the inside track on a lot of things.

 

But right now, yes, UTP is pretty dead. I fly regularly in their airspace and you can almost hear the tumbleweed on the Approach freq. 

 

They've still got the decaying TG A-340's parked there, as well as a couple of A-380s and B747s.

[The Fugitive]

2 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

If the casino (integrated resort) plans get off the ground and Pattaya is selected as a location, it will get a massive boost. Bangkok Airways is taking the lead on developing UTP and in fact recently (May) announced they're putting another USD 135 million into the development company.

(https://weblink.set.or.th/dat/news/202305/1219NWS250520231853130099E.pdf)

 

The Bangkok Airways owners (Prasarttong-Osoth family) are hugely influential so I'd suspect that they have the inside track on a lot of things.

 

But right now, yes, UTP is pretty dead. I fly regularly in their airspace and you can almost hear the tumbleweed on the Approach freq. 

 

They've still got the decaying TG A-340's parked there, as well as a couple of A-380s and B747s.

Thanks for the info. Positive news at last. I guess the problem was that U-Tapao wasn't built as a civilian airport. With you-know-who building islands in the South China Sea and no longer having Clark USAF base it might be needed again! I understand that in the early days of low cost airlines, lower landing fees attracted them to out-of-town airports. However, that makes onward connections awkward. Even if there was eventually a regular (or even high-speed) rail link, passengers requiring connections at Suvarnabhumi aren't going to consider flying via U-Tapao when they can already fly low cost into either swampy or Don Mueang.   

[The Fugitive]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

People don't seem to realize, UTP airport was very busy prior to covid. 3-4 daily flights from China, Russia, flights to KL, Singapore, and flights to all the domestic ports. Air asia used to run an hourly shuttle bus from pattaya. You can be there in 30 minutes as there is never any traffic.

I used to fly home to Australia from there, a quick flight down to KL, then an overnight to Sydney. A couple of flights to Chang mai, a flight to kon kaen. I literally didn't use the Bangkok airports for 5 years.

Agreed, it certainly was. Great to have alternative routes and options. You would have expected that, by now, flights would have reverted to pre-Covid levels?

[bbi1]

On 7/3/2023 at 3:35 PM, Burma Bill said:

Very much so, and I used it regularly for all my Air Asia Fly-Thru flights to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma.

Very handy indeed - avoided the Immigration queues at DMK. The service at Khon Kaen was paid for by Air Asia for its "Fly-Thru" international passengers ONLY. Of interest to me, the desk was often manned by my local  "friendly" Immigration Officer. This was pre-pandemic.

Which international destinations can one now fly to from U-Tapao airport these days?

[Burma Bill]

2 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Which international destinations can one now fly to from U-Tapao airport these days?

These were yesterday's (4th July 2023) departures from U_Tapao

 

					11:00 04 July Unknown Macau MFM AirACT 9T8601 11:45 04 July Departed 12:08 Dubai DXB flydubai FZ1448 2 13:00 04 July Departed 12:54 Phuket HKT Bangkok Airways PG281 25 14:25 04 July Departed 14:32 Chiang Mai CNX Thai Lion Air SL1995 17:15 04 July Departed 17:10 Koh Samui USM Bangkok Airways PG294 19
					So it appears only Macau and Dubai (and these are not daily)   https://airport-departures-arrivals.com/thailand-airport/u-tapao-pattaya-airport-live-departures/

 

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Which international destinations can one now fly to from U-Tapao airport these days?

Dubai I think.......

[scorecard]

On 7/3/2023 at 7:39 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Unlike UTP, there's a currently operating BTS-like rail line connecting to Don Mueang that makes it pretty much accessible from most anywhere in Bangkok. (Though there is a bit of a walk from the Red Line's DMK station into the airport terminal).

 

Is that the same walk across the old very high up bridge that's been there for years? 

[Espanol]

4 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Is that the same walk across the old very high up bridge that's been there for years? 

 

Talatmai Don Muang

https://goo.gl/maps/oz1iH1LvfXNWF1438

 

 

 

 

[GypsyT]

I have a feeling BKK is behind DMK and UTP connections are so poorly organized.

Don Mueng;

"The rail network is operated by three different companies with three different ticketing systems. If your final destination requires three different trains, then you will need to buy a ticket for each train." I did it once, never more.

If arriving to DMK and need to go to BKK it's best take a free shuttle bus to Mo Chit (now, that's a great and honest name for service!) and then BTS.

 

There's lot of road work between Pattaya and UTP and maybe they get all done. Then it's quick to get there. I'd use it.

 

[Rimmer]

Off topic posts and replies about Macau have been removed