Hua Hin airport seeking endorsement for upgrade to international status

[buksida]

The meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Phuket next week marks a new phase in aviation development in Thailand, with authorities planning to ask the UN agency to endorse five more international airports.

The three-day Third Global Aviation Cooperation Symposium, from July 22-24, is partly a result of the ICAO seeing potential in the Thai aviation industry, according to Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) chief Chula Sukmanop.

Thailand had continued to improve its aviation standards since the ICAO in 2017 lifted the "red flag" it gave the country for its failure to address safety concerns.

...

CAAT will also ask the ICAO to approve the upgrading of five more airports -- Krabi, Surat Thani, Udon Thani, Hua Hin and Samui -- to international airports, Mr Chula said.

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... l-airports

[fft100]

Very odd list. Samui has been international for a decade or more. Flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, China etc.

I know the runway was extended at Hua Hin a long time ago to allow for 737's to land. Its now 2100m long. But planes move on (get bigger) and I don't think that is long enough for airbus A320 or A321. The 737NG and similar wouldn't be able to take off with maximum weight. How could they get the extra length to enable full planes ?

There was an idea a decade or more ago to rebuild the airport close to the bypass. presumably that is now dead as a dodo.

[Thistle]

Air Asia is currently using an Airbus A320 on there daily route to Kl from Hua Hin.So no problem with regards length for that type of aircraft certainly.

[Big Boy]

An interesting article on https://www.77kaoded.com/content/1005371 (translates to English quite well) about plans to transform Hua Hin into a busy international and domestic tourism hub, and having received approval from the minister.

Problem is, how to they persuade airlines to use the shiny new facility? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the airport utilised more, but I fear the worst for those who try.

[stretch]

You have to open the place first. International airport with no flights

[HHTel]

Many years ago, Hua Hin airport was closed. 2 weeks after the closure, it was granted it's status as an 'International Airport'.
Obviously that licence has expired so they have to apply again.

[Big Boy]

But the only flight nowadays is International.

[Dannie Boy]

I’m guessing that the only reason HH to KL is quite popular is because it’s the only international flight available - if it suddenly became 5 or 6 then their wouldn’t be enough customers to justify each route. The only popular route I can think of is HH to BKK

[Big Boy]

As China and India are prime targets for TAT, maybe a popular Chinese and Indian hub needs to be considered.

I did the previous Bangkok flight - the schedule was awful.

[Dannie Boy]

As China and India are prime targets for TAT, maybe a popular Chinese and Indian hub needs to be considered.

I did the previous Bangkok flight - the schedule was awful.

I’d agree that one or two Chinese/Indian destinations could find customers - the problem with Bangkok is that departure/arrival times In BKK are through most of the 24 hours.

[Big Boy]

We all seem to agree that tourism in Thailand has changed drastically, so for the Western World, forget connecting with Bangkok.

The targets should be popular domestic areas (NE???) and foreign 'holiday type' destinations. Don't do it the Thai way, choose a destination and assume the people will come.

[Ginjaninja]

Today I am attempting my first work mobilisation from HHQ. Destination -Labuan (Borneo) via KUL.
Very happy I’m able to do this however I believe I have to collect my bags at KLIA2 and re-check-in which is a pain in the hoop. I’m hoping the process will still be preferable than bus to BKK and dealing with all those bast*rd queues at Swampy...

[TCH]

Flights to Hong Kong and Singapore would be good and also a flight to the middle east, if Emirates had a flight to Dubai even if only one a week I would organize my flights to Europe around it to avoid the drive to Bangkok, so I do think that there is room for expansion but not sure people in the flight path will be quite so happy.

[HHTel]

I’m guessing that the only reason HH to KL is quite popular is because it’s the only international flight available - if it suddenly became 5 or 6 then their wouldn’t be enough customers to justify each route. The only popular route I can think of is HH to BKK

That's been tried. Fine if you're catching an onward flight at Swampy. For a BKK visit, it's pretty useless. By the time you've checked in here. Landed at Swampy and checked out. Then transport or BTS to the city, then you can do it quicker by road!

[Dannie Boy]

I’m guessing that the only reason HH to KL is quite popular is because it’s the only international flight available - if it suddenly became 5 or 6 then their wouldn’t be enough customers to justify each route. The only popular route I can think of is HH to BKK

That's been tried. Fine if you're catching an onward flight at Swampy. For a BKK visit, it's pretty useless. By the time you've checked in here. Landed at Swampy and checked out. Then transport or BTS to the city, then you can do it quicker by road!

Of course, that was what I was thinking, rather than a commute into Bangkok, but as I further posted, the problem of flights into BKK would have to be frequent to provide reasonable connections and there is nowhere near enough demand to justify that, so it’s a case of waiting for the high speed train service!!