U-TAPAO, Thailand, 12 June 2018: Two Chinese airlines are starting scheduled services to U-tapao airport, 36 km south of Pattaya City on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.
Donghai Airlines started a scheduled service from Wanzhou to U-tapao at the end of May, while Kunming Airlines will launch a service from Kunming in July.
According to Airlineroute timetable information, Donghai Airlines is now flying three times a week to U-tapao (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The flights booked by Chinese tour groups heading for Pattaya depart Wanzhou at 1100 and arrive in U-tapao at 1345. The return flights leave U-tapao at 1500 and arrive in Wanzhou at 1940.
Wanzhou city is part of a district on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China with a population of a round 1,75 million residents. Governed under the Chongqing Municipality, Wanchou district borders Sichuan to the northwest and Hubei to the southeast.
Owned by Sichuan Airlines, Donghai Airlines is currently embarking on expansion by opening international flights starting with a flight to Darwin Australia and U-tapao in Rayong province Thailand. It will increase its fleet to 120 aircraft by 2025, including buying Boeing 787 Dreamliners and additional Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Meanwhile, Kunming Airlines adds its U-tapao service effective 1 July flying from Kunming to U-tapao on the eastern Gulf of Thailand coast four times a week.
The flights are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and geared to the holiday package market in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.
Using a Boeing 737 aircraft the flights will depart Kunming at 1340 and arrive in U-tapao at 1540. The return flight will depart U-tapao at 1755 and arrive in Kunming at 2200, according Airlineroute information.
Partly owned by Shenzhen Airlines, Kunming Airlines already flies from Kunming to Hat Yai.
Yunnan is the closest Chinese province to Thailand sharing a border with northwest Laos near the town of Luang Namtha. The Chinese province was a founding member of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Tourism Working Group along with five countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
