U-Tapao, the tiny Royal Thai Air Force base that also serves as a limited service public airport, is back in the news again. You may remember that the airport near Pattaya made headlines when it attempted to stand in for Bangkok’s airport(s) after they were closed by demonstrators near the end of 2008.
Now, according to the Pattaya Daily News, international flights are returning to U-Tapao, but this time they aren’t emergency measures. Korean Airlines has begun scheduled service to the airport in order to deliver vacationing Koreans directly to the beach. While the airport has been used in the past for international charter flights during the high season, but this is the first regularly scheduled international air service (although, in checking Korean Air’s web site, I can’t find a schedule, or even a destination page, for U-Tapao).
Bangkok Airways has used the airport for domestic flights for several years.