Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Wattay International Airport is the principal international gateway to Laos, sitting just a few kilometres west of Vientiane on the banks of the Mekong. It offers a single long, ILS-equipped runway capable of handling wide-body jets, making it a straightforward and well-marked destination for visiting pilots.
Wattay International Airport serves Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and functions as the country's main gateway for international and domestic air traffic. It is operated jointly with a military presence, the Lao Air Force maintaining an installation at one end of the field, and it acts as a hub for Lao Airlines, Lao Skyway and other regional carriers. For a simulator pilot, its single very long hard-surfaced runway with a full ILS approach and busy mix of regional jets and turboprops make it an interesting introduction to Southeast Asian airline operations.
The airport lies in Sikhottabong district, Vientiane Prefecture, about 3 kilometres from the centre of Vientiane, on the Lao side of the Mekong River close to the border with Thailand. Coordinates are 17.9882N 102.5630E, with a field elevation of 561 feet.
Wattay has a single physical runway, 13/31, measuring 9,839 feet and surfaced in hard asphalt. Both directions are lit, and runway 13 is equipped with an ILS approach, giving instrument-approach capability into the field from the southeast.
Arriving and departing traffic works Vientiane Approach on 119.7 MHz and Vientiane Tower on 118.1 MHz. The field has a full ILS on runway 13 for instrument approaches.
Wattay International Airport began operations in 1999 and is operated by the Lao Airport Authority, with the Lao Air Force also maintaining an installation at one end of the field. Using grant funding from the Japanese government, the international terminal was renovated in 2005, and a cargo terminal was built in 2011 with funding from the Bank of Japan. From July 2011 the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, working with China CAMC Engineering Company, carried out a major expansion that lengthened the single asphalt runway by 260 metres to 3,000 metres, widened parking aprons, and added new administrative buildings; the project ran from December 2011 to November 2012 and was substantially funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. A further expansion between December 2015 and August 2018, again supported by a Japan International Cooperation Agency loan, enlarged the international terminal and added a new domestic terminal.
Wattay remains Laos's principal international airport and a hub for Lao Airlines, Lao Skyway and Lanexang Airways International, with scheduled services to destinations across China, Southeast Asia, and beyond operated by numerous other regional carriers. The airport handles a busy mix of international and domestic flights alongside continuing military use of part of the airfield.