News Forum - U-Tapao Airport expansion plan approved by Cabinet

[Thaiger]

For tourists to Pattaya, travel may be getting a lot easier. The Cabinet has approved a plan for a massive expansion U-Tapao Airport, the hub in Rayong province nearest to the popular tourist town. The project would grow the airport’s capability for commercial flights to land. It would expand by building a new runway and adding facilities to accommodate travellers. The new airport could serve a maximum of 60 million passengers per year. The U-Tapao isn’t likely to break ground tomorrow, however. The decision by the Cabinet this week was merely an approval of the concept in principle without a […]

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[Pinetree]

This will not happen in my lifetime. It already  has one of the longest runways in the region, capable of handling aircraft at max 40 an hour and  circa 35 million passengers per year, it has a new terminal, which may well get expanded and it has ample parking space already and good new road links, built and being built. It needs very little new investment to meet the gov's ambition and none of that is needed for the next 5 to 10 years.  Does Pattaya et al really think it can attract 60m million visitors per year?  I doubt that very much. 

[Highlandman]

U-Tapao airport has more than enough capacity as it is. Currently, there are just 2 or 3 flights a day, consisting of a Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai service. Pre Covid there were Russian and Chinese charters arriving and occasionally even the odd charter flight from Europe but until U-Tapao can finally attract mainline and low cost carriers from regional countries and Japan, one of the biggest investors in the EEC region and thus the airport attracts not just holidaymakers but also businessmen, then U-Tapao will literally never take off as a serious airport (pun intended).

You'd think with all the industry in the vicinity of the airport, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Singsporean, Malaysian and other foreign investors would not only want to fly to U-Tapao but welcome its proximity to these industrial areas. The airport isn't intended to only welcome foreign tourists but even if that were its main intention, proximity to Pattaya and Koh Samet should make it attractive. Yet not even Thai domestic airlines are interested in starting or resuming services to this airport.

[Guest1]

6 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The new airport could serve a maximum of 60 million passengers per year.

Is that number right? Or would it be 6 million?

60 million would be almost as big as BKK, so ....?

[Guest1]

4 hours ago, Pinetree said:

This will not happen in my lifetime. It already  has one of the longest runways in the region, capable of handling aircraft at max 40 an hour and  circa 35 million passengers per year, it has a new terminal, which may well get expanded and it has ample parking space already and good new road links, built and being built. It needs very little new investment to meet the gov's ambition and none of that is needed for the next 5 to 10 years.  Does Pattaya et al really think it can attract 60m million visitors per year?  I doubt that very much. 

But the envelopes will start flowing around. 

[Pinetree]

48 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

Is that number right? Or would it be 6 million?

60 million would be almost as big as BKK, so ....?

If 6 million, then why a second runway?  It must indeed mean 60, 

[palooka]

Chinese hourly shuttle probably could create these numbers.