U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport , also spelled
Utapao and
U-Taphao, is a joint civilimilitary public airport serving
Rayong, a city in
Thailand. It is approximately southeast of
Bangkok, near
Sattahip on the
Gulf of Siam. It is located south of route 3 (Thanon Sukhumvit) at km 189, about a 45 minute drive from
Pattaya (Thailand's most popular beach resort).
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.
Due to the
blockade of Bangkok's airports by opposition protesters, U-Tapao briefly became the main air gateway to Thailand between November 26 and December 5, 2008.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled
Charters
During the winter high season, U-Tapao is or has been used for charter flights by numerous operators including
Finnair,
Korean Air,
Aerotur.kz,
Mak Air,
Transaero and
UTAir.
History
Vietnam War
During the
Vietnam War U-Tapao was a military base for the
United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, known as "Bi-hasip-sawng" to the local people. U-Tapao was a front-line base along with the other US bases at
Korat,
Udon,
Ubon,
Nakhon Phanom and
Takhli. The USAF B-52 made regular sorties over Thailand's eastern neighbors, especially
North Vietnam, carrying an average of 108 bombs of 500 and 750 pounds per mission. Entertainer
Bob Hope used to visit the base every year between 1964 and 1972 with his USO Christmas show.
The closeness of the U-Tapao USAF base to
Pattaya during the Vietnam War era is frequently cited as one of the main reasons for the development of
prostitution in that town.
November 2008 protests in Bangkok
With the closure of
Suvarnabhumi Airport and
Don Mueang Airport in late November 2008 due to protests, U-tapao became for a time Thailand's main international gateway.
Airlines including
AirAsia,
Air France,
Air Madagascar,
Aeroflot,
ANA,
Asiana,
Austrian Airlines,
Bangkok Airways,
Cathay Pacific,
China Airlines,
El Al,
Emirates Airline,
Etihad,
Ethiopian Airlines,
Eva Air,
Hong Kong Express,
Iberworld,
Indian Airlines,
Iran Air,
Japan Air Lines,
Jet Airways,
Kenya Airways,
Korean Air Lines,
KLM,
Kuwait Airways,
MAI,
Mahan Air,
Malaysia Airlines,
Qatar Airways,
S7 Airlines,
Singapore Airlines,
Vietnam Airlines,
Thai Airways International,
Turkish Airlines,
Thai AirAsia,
Orient Thai,
Tiger Airways,
Transaero and
Vladivostok Avia arranged special flights from and to U-Tapao to ferry international passengers stranded because of the seizure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
[Page 6, South China Morning Post, 30 November, 2008. ] 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 since the security was not up-to-date, some US-bound flights were diverted to Japan in order to make the passengers go through a supplementary security-check.
[http://www.evaair.com/html/b2c/english/eva/News/2008/LatestupdateonBangkokFlights.htm]See also
