U-TapaoâÂÂRayongâÂÂPattaya International Airport , also spelled Utapao and U-Taphao, is a dual-use civilâÂÂmilitary public international airport serving the cities of Rayong and Pattaya in Eastern Thailand in the 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.
U-Tapao was built by the United States to accommodate B-52 bombers for missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Construction began on 15 October 1965 and was completed on 2 June 1966. U-Tapao was the primary Southeast Asian airfield for USAF B-52 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 108 500-pound and 750-pound bombs per mission. U-Tapao was a regular stop on Bob Hope's Christmas shows for the troops.
In late 2018, King Power was awarded a ten-year contract to operate U-Tapao duty-free shops. A partnership between Thai retailer Central Department Store Company (Central Group) and DFS Group will manage retail shops and services, mainly food and beverage, also for 10 years.
U-Tapao Airport near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand, about south of Pattaya's Walking Street, is south of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and south of Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport.
Expansion plan was envisaged in 2018, project financing for the 6 phase development plan with annual passenger capacity of 60 million was approved in 2022, and partial implementation of phase-1 commenced in November 2025 with commencement of construction of the second runway.
Since Bangkok's two international airports are operating beyond capacity, the government envisaged to expand U-Tapao into a third major airport of Thailand. Consequently, U Tapao Terminal 2 was officially opened in February 2019. The 2022 Thai Government approved 6 phase expansion plan for U-Tapao Airport, envisages its annual passenger capacity to 60 million with runway expansions, several new and better connectivity to the Eastern Economic Corridor. In 2025, the partial implementation of phase-1 of U Tapao Airport expansion plan was scaled down from 6 million to 3 million passengers per year due to the delay in construction of Don MueangâÂÂSuvarnabhumiâÂÂU-Tapao high-speed railway (High-Speed Rail Linking Three Busiest Airports of Thailand), and the full phase-1 with 6 million passenger capacity will be implemented once the 80% of High Speed Rail passenger numbers target is achieved.
After much delay, U-Tapao Airport expansion and Eastern Aviation City construction project is reported to begin on April 3, 2026. The project is led by U-Tapao International Aviation Co., Ltd. (UTA), wherein Bangkok Airways and BTS Group each holds 40%, and Stecon Group holds the remaining 20%.