New U-Taphai airport coming to eastern Thailand

11th Aug 2022

The Thai cabinet has given permission to allocate 408 acres of land in the provinces of Rayong and Chonburi so that a free-trade zone could be set up in the area called the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

The Airport City will service U-Taphai Airport, which will serve the cities of Rayong, Sattahip, and Pattaya. U-Taphai Airport will be Bangkok's third airport, joining Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang. This effort is intended to attract both international and Thai investors.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the new free-trade zone will resolve of a lot of the problems that international investors have had in the country, as well as a lot of the rules and laws that govern how business is done in these zones.
Understanding U-Taphao International Airport

U-Taphao International Airport will serve Bangkok's eastern region, including Chonburi, Chachoengsao, Rayong, and the city of Pattaya. It was already there as a small regional airport that served local routes to Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Khon Kaen as well as charter flights from Russia, China, South Korea, and India.

The Thai government and the Royal Thai Navy, the site's owner, intend to use the empty area to construct an airport with a capacity of 40 million passengers.

Since Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok's primary airport) surpasses its capacity of 60 million passengers pre-Covid, the reason for a third airport is becoming plausible, as Don Mueang Airport, the city's secondary airport, also exceeds its capacity in the same year.

The U-Taphao Airport project is in keeping with the Thai government's plan to build a high-value economic cluster in the aforementioned region, and it is hoped that businesspeople and tourists will use the airport.

Regardless of COVID-19, the only travellers utilising the airport in Thailand at this time are residents and tourists travelling to the islands of Rayong and the city of Pattaya.

The majority of tourists come from Russia, China, and East Asia. Russian charter airlines such as S7, Nordwind, Rossiya, UT Air, Transaero, and Ural Air have used this airport.

Qatar Airways did, in fact, establish a direct trip from Doha to U-Taphao in 2018 using the Boeing 787, but reduced capacity with an Airbus A319 and flew the route through Rangoon, Myanmar. Due to COVID, the resuscitation of this route remains uncertain.

Why Thailand is building a huge airport with amenities that might be better than those at Suvarnabhumi Airport at this time was hard to understand for some.

Low-cost airlines, such as Air Asia, Thai Lion Air, and Thai VietJet, may be based at the airport and operate point-to-point services throughout Thailand and South East Asia.

The only international aircraft that might arrive at this airport are low-cost carriers from China and India, as these two nations represent Thailand's largest tourism market.

Pattaya is a favourite destination for Russian tourists, so this might be followed by an influx of visitors from Russia if the situation in Ukraine continues. Since people from the Middle East like to visit the area, Middle Eastern airlines like Qatar could be brought back to life.

Overall, the new airport city will attract investors to Thailand, particularly in the aviation industry. This will promote the aviation sector and competitiveness of the Kingdom.

The ambitious airport plan will also accommodate the anticipated rise in business and people in the region since the Thai government is now providing incentives for firms to be located in the area.

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