Thai AirAsia has launched two routes to China from U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya Airport, the first flights in its plans to make the former U.S. airbase a hub for domestic and international operations.
Airport director Rear Adm. Wasinsan Jantawarin welcomed the Chinese tourists from Nanning to the Ban Chang airfield Sept. 25. Witchunee Kantapeng, ground operations director for TAA, said the carrier’s inaugural flight to Nanchang would come the following day.
The first flights, she said, were booked to about 75 percent capacity, but expected that would increase as the year went on.
Airport director Rear Adm. Wasinsan Jantawarin (background, center) welcomes the first Chinese tourists from Nanning who arrived aboard Thai Air Asia’s newest flight from China to U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya Airport.
To compensate for U-Tapao’s relative lack of ground-transport options, Thai Air Asia planned to offer connecting service to downtown Pattaya, Rayong and Koh Samet. It would also consider transport to Koh Larn hotels if demand existed.
The no-frills carrier is planning four flights a week from the navy-operated airport in Rayong province to Nanning and three a week to Nanchang.
These routes mark the start of a new network for Air Asia, adding it as a hub to existing bases at Don Mueang International Airport, Phuket, Krabi and Chiang Mai.
Thai travelers also will get easy and low-cost options to visit the southwest and southeast Chinese cities.
Nanchang is known for its Lushan Mountain and Wuyuan village while Nanning is an important economic city with easy connections to Guilin.
