U-Tapao International Airport

For the military use of the facility, see U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield.
U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport

ท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติ
อู่ตะเภา-ระยอง-พัทยา
IATA: UTP – ICAO: VTBU
Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Operator Royal Thai Navy
Serves Rayong, Thailand
Location Ban Chang District, Rayong Province
Elevation AMSL 42 ft / 13 m
Coordinates 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°ECoordinates: 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°E
Map
UTP

Location of airport in Thailand

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 3,505 11,500 Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

U-Tapao–Pattaya International Airport[3] (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.

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.[4] 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.

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 50-pound and 750-pound bombs per mission. Entertainer Bob Hope visited the base every year between 1964 and 1972 with his USO Christmas show.[5]

November 2008 protests in Bangkok

With the closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport in late November 2008 due to mobs, U-Tapao became for a time Thailand's main supplementary international gateway.

Airlines including AirAsia, Air France, Air Madagascar, Aeroflot, ANA, Asiana, Austrian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines(Taiwan), El Al, Emirates, Etihad, Ethiopian Airlines, Eva Air, Garuda Indonesia, Hong Kong Express, Iberworld, Indian Airlines, Iran Air, Japan Air Lines, Jet Airways, Jetstar, Kenya Airways, Korean Air Lines, KLM, Kuwait Airways, MAI, Mahan Air, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine 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.[6][7][8][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 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.[9]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations Route
Bangkok Airways Koh Samui, Phuket Domestic
Kan Air Bangkok-Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai,Khon Kaen,Surat Thani,Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani Domestic
China Airlines(Taiwan) Charter: Kaohsiung, Taipei–Taoyuan International
China Eastern Airlines Charter: Shanghai–Pudong International
China Southern Airlines Charter: Guangzhou International
Dragonair Charter: Hong Kong International
Japan Airlines Charter: Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita International
Korean Air Charter: Busan, Seoul–Incheon International
UTair AviationCharter: Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-DonInternational

Accidents and incidents

On 28 October 1977, a Douglas DC-3 of Air Vietnam was hijacked to U-Tapao International Airport, where the four hijackers surrendered. Two people on the aircraft were killed in the hijacking. The airliner was on a flight from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc Airport, Duong Dong.[14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Airport information for VTBU at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  2. ↑ Airport information for UTP at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ U-tapao back on the map; Bangkok Post, 7–2 Dec, 008 issue.
  6. ↑ "ANA International Flight Status". Fli.ana.co.jp.
  7. ↑ "Cathay Pacific". Cathay Pacific.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1
  10. ↑ http://www.hongkongexpress.com/web/eng/news_e.php?id=Special%20ticketing%20arrangement%20for%20BANGKOK%20flights
  11. ↑ http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/Util/showPopup.jspx?method=window&windowUrl=/saa/en_UK/Util/BreakingNewsPopup.jsp?msgId=2
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ Page 6, South China Morning Post, 30 November 2008.
  14. ↑ "Hijacking description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.

External links