Surat Thani International Airport
Surat Thani International Airport (Thai: ท่าอากาศยานสุราษฎร์ธานี) (IATA: URT, ICAO: VTSB) is an international airport located in Phunphin District, Surat Thani Province, in Southern Thailand. The airport, 21 km west of Surat Thani City, also is home to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) squadrons. Surat Thani has a single paved runway. It is the tenth-busiest airport in Thailand in terms of passengers, handling more than two million passengers annually.
Surat Thani International Airport ท่าอากาศยานสุราษฎร์ธานี | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Royal Thai Air Force | ||||||||||
| Operator | Department of Airports | ||||||||||
| Serves | Surat Thani | ||||||||||
| Location | 73 Moo 3, Hua Toei, Phunphin, Surat Thani, Thailand | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 6.1 m / 20 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 09°07′57″N 99°08′08″E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  URT Location of airport in Thailand | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
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Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AirAsia | Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Nok Air | Bangkok–Don Mueang |
| Nordwind Airlines | Seasonal charter: Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Novosibirsk[1] |
| Thai AirAsia | Bangkok–Don Mueang, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi (resumes 25 September 2020), Chiang Mai |
| Thai Lion Air | Bangkok–Don Mueang |
| Thai Smile | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi |
| Thai Vietjet Air | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi (begins 4 November 2020) |
Terminated
Statistics
Passengers
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 204,146 |
| 2006 | 288,406 |
| 2007 | 327,770 |
| 2008 | 338,938 |
| 2009 | 374,067 |
| 2010 | 505,666 |
| 2011 | 575,229 |
| 2012 | 816,413 |
| 2013 | 1,080,781 |
| 2014 | 1,321,909 |
| 2015 | 1,856,315 |
| 2016 | 2,032,042 |
| 2017 | 2,247,590 |
| 2018 | 2,108,289 |
Military use
As well as being a commercial facility, Surat Thani Airport is an active RTAF base, the home of 4th Air Division/7th Wing Air Combat Command. 701 Squadron, "Shark", flies twelve SAAB JAS-39 C/D Gripen fighter aircraft. 702 Squadron operates two airborne early warning (AEW) and two transport SAAB SF340 airplanes. A further two SF340s are on order.
Airport upgrade
In 2019, the Department of Airports announced a plan to upgrade the airport to accommodate 3.6 million passengers a year, up from two million.[2]
Accidents
On 11 December 1998, Thai Airways Flight 261, an A310-200 (HS-TIA), bound for Surat Thani from Bangkok, was making its third landing attempt in heavy rain when it crashed into a rice paddy about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the airport; 101 of the 146 passengers and crew aboard were killed.
References
- "Surat Thani, Thailand gains first intercontinental route". ch-aviation.com. 22 November 2019.
- Thodsapol, Hongtong (6 August 2019). "Three airports to be upgraded". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
External links
