U-Tapao International Airport
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U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา-ระยอง-พัทยา |
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Thai Navy | ||||||||||
| Serves |
Chonburi-Pattaya Metropolitain Area Rayong |
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| Location | Ban Chang, Rayong, Thailand | ||||||||||
| Hub for | Thai AirAsia | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 42 ft / 13 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°ECoordinates: 12°40′47″N 101°00′18″E / 12.67972°N 101.00500°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 UTP
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Source: DAFIF
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| Freight (tonnes) | 37,374 |
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U-Tapao International Airport (Thai: ท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติอู่ตะเภา) (IATA: UTP, ICAO: VTBU) also spelled Utapao and U-Taphao, is a joint civil–military public airport serving Rayong and Pattaya cities in Thailand. It is in Ban Chang District of Rayong Province.
It also serves as the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, home of the Royal Thai Navy First Air Wing. U-Tapao is the home of a large Thai Airways maintenance facility, servicing that airline's aircraft as well as those of other customers. Due to the blockade of Bangkok's airports by opposition protesters, U-Tapao briefly became the main air gateway to Thailand between 26 November and 5 December 2008. As both of Bangkok's international airports essential to the country's tourist boom are operating beyond capacity as of 2015, U-tapao in particular has been eyed as an alternate international gateway due to relative proximity to the capital.
U-Tapao lies approximately 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Bangkok, south of Rte 3 (Thanon Sukhumvit) at km189, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand, about a 45-minute drive from Pattaya (Thailand's most popular beach resort).
During the Vietnam War U-Tapao was a military base for United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, called "Bee-hasip-sawng" (B-52) by the local Thais. U-Tapao was a front-line base along with the other US bases at Korat, Udon, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, and Takhli. The USAF B-52s made regular sorties over North Vietnam and North Vietnamese-controlled areas in Laos, carrying an average of 108 50-pound and 750-pound bombs per mission. Entertainer Bob Hope visited the base every year between 1964 and 1972 with his USO Christmas show.
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