Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
U-Tapao International Airport (VTBU) is a dual-use civil-military aerodrome on the Gulf of Thailand coast in Rayong province, serving as both the Royal Thai Navy's First Air Wing base and a growing international gateway for the Pattaya and Rayong region. Built by the United States in the mid-1960s as a B-52 bomber base for the Vietnam War, it now hosts a Thai Airways maintenance facility and is undergoing major expansion as a planned third Bangkok-area international airport.
U-Tapao is a large, dual-use airfield in Ban Chang district, Rayong province, operated jointly by the Royal Thai Navy and civil aviation authorities. It serves the resort city of Pattaya and the city of Rayong, and is home to the Royal Thai Navy's First Air Wing as well as a substantial Thai Airways maintenance base. For a simulator pilot it offers an unusually long runway, a military-civil mix of traffic, and a striking Vietnam War-era history that still shapes the field's layout and character.
The airfield lies near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand, roughly 50 kilometres south of Pattaya's Walking Street, about 140 kilometres southeast of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and around 190 kilometres south of Don Mueang Airport. It sits within the Ban Chang district of Rayong province, in the Eastern Economic Corridor region that also encompasses Chonburi and Chachoengsao provinces.
U-Tapao has a single physical runway, 18/36, measuring 11,480 feet (3,505 metres) with a hard surface and runway lighting. An ILS is provided for runway 18. Field elevation is 39 feet. Construction of a second runway and associated taxiway began in November 2025 as part of a phased expansion project, though this has not yet entered service.
Approach can be contacted on 119.7 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz, and Tower on 118.3 MHz. Runway 18 is equipped with an ILS.
U-Tapao was constructed by the United States to accommodate B-52 bombers flying missions over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War, with construction beginning on 15 October 1965 and completion on 2 June 1966. It became the primary Southeast Asian base for USAF B-52 sorties, operating alongside American airfields at Korat, Udon, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, and Takhli, and was a regular stop for Bob Hope's Christmas shows for American troops. On 28 October 1977 a hijacked Douglas DC-3 of Vietnam Airlines, en route from Tan Son Nhat to Duong Dong Airport in Phu Quoc, was diverted to U-Tapao to refuel; two Vietnamese officials aboard were killed during the hijacking. In late November 2008, when anti-government protestors occupied Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, U-Tapao temporarily became Thailand's main supplementary international gateway, with several airlines running special flights through the field.
U-Tapao continues to operate as a dual-use civil-military airport under Royal Thai Navy control, home to the Navy's First Air Wing and a large Thai Airways maintenance facility that services aircraft for that airline and other customers. Bangkok Airways operates scheduled services to Koh Samui and Phuket from the field. The airport is the subject of a substantial government-approved expansion plan intended to raise annual passenger capacity to 60 million and establish it as a third major international airport for the Bangkok region, with a high-speed rail link to Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang planned. Construction of a second runway under this phased expansion began in November 2025, though on a reduced scale from original proposals.