Hua Hin airport due for upgrade

[butch]

About 20 years back the wife purchased 2 rai out where the 4 by pass is. she and her friends were excited because a giant airport was going to be built in that area. it was never built. my wife and her Thai friends were bitterly disappointed. bad info. she finally sold the 2 rai for a small profit but never the big bucks envisioned.

[Thailightzone]

Thailightzone, I've been hanging around Huahin for over 17 years, I dread taking the taxi from BKK to Huahin, would love flights from HKG,NRT or TPE, but think in my lifetime only a pipedream, I don't care if a A-380 could land here that would happen. If I was twenty younger may be optimistic. I've always been jealous of my Brit friends as only a 12 hours ride to Thailand, from my side of the world with flights and taxi a 24 hour trip.

Well these days aircraft size does not always equate to distance, but I'm guessing from your description you are from the USA which is quite a stretch. I'm pretty sure the landing fees at Hua Hin would be low, so it really comes down to the size and viability of the market, and I doubt Hua Hin is promoted as a destination overseas (aside from when AirAsia Berhad flew from Malaysia). I reckon there is a market for at least 1 direct flight a week from Australia.

You may be able to take the high speed train from BKK in a few years

[HHTel]

About 20 years back the wife purchased 2 rai out where the 4 by pass is. she and her friends were excited because a giant airport was going to be built in that area. it was never built. my wife and her Thai friends were bitterly disappointed. bad info. she finally sold the 2 rai for a small profit but never the big bucks envisioned.

Thai misinformation was around a long time before Trump. The rumour mill here is always very active ..... and usually wrong. I would guess that you'll find no evidence whatsoever of plans to build a 'giant airport'.

[ahandpatsy]

I reckon a flight via dubai maybe on the cards which would be brilliant from uk

[Dannie Boy]

I reckon a flight via dubai maybe on the cards which would be brilliant from uk

It would indeed

[buksida]

I dont think there will be enough demand for long-haul flights to Hua Hin for at least ten years - Bangkok has to start first and that won't be back to "normal" for at least two years at the rate things are going here. If they do open HH to international flights again, you can bet it will be to Chinese cities.

Their most popular flight (HH >< KL) was price hiked less than a year after launch, then cut back on schedules, then completely canceled all together even though they were mostly full - and that was before Covid really kicked in.

As soon as a flight becomes popular they price it out of practicality and the route ends up shutting down as nobody wants to use it anymore. Hua Hin airport has always been a bit of a white elephant in that regard.

[Thailightzone]

About 20 years back the wife purchased 2 rai out where the 4 by pass is. she and her friends were excited because a giant airport was going to be built in that area. it was never built. my wife and her Thai friends were bitterly disappointed. bad info. she finally sold the 2 rai for a small profit but never the big bucks envisioned.

Thai misinformation was around a long time before Trump. The rumour mill here is always very active ..... and usually wrong. I would guess that you'll find no evidence whatsoever of plans to build a 'giant airport'.

True. Where did that rumour even start? It's ridiculous. A runway extension & widening makes sense. Upgrading the current terminal (which is smaller than most Thai town bus terminals) makes sense. Thats all. The traffic simply doesn't exist for anything more.

Now if an airline thinks it is a viable hub to secure they could offer to buy the airport (Bangkok Airways is the sole owner of Koh Samui Airport), but again I don't think Hua Hin Is promoted as a destination outside of Thailand.

[fft100]

That was the same time it was mentioned in the papers/internet that Disney (or similar) were thinking of opening a theme park near the bypass.

And then there was the fast train station that was going to be near the Palau / bypass junction.

How much was reality and how much was dreaming I will leave upto the reader !!

[buksida]

This is usually the type of clickbait HH Today publishes on slow news days, but CNA is a reputable outlet so who knows ...

Thailand’s Hua Hin set to receive international flights
After a years-long hiatus, the Thai beach resort city of Hua Hin could resume international flights this year following a runway upgrade, jumpstarting its tourism sector.

Experts say this would help Thailand achieve its aim of developing secondary destinations, and officials including Hua Hin’s mayor welcome the prospect of drawing more international tourists.

But some wonder if building a new airport would be better for Hua Hin in the longer term and want more funding from the central government to develop other infrastructure to cope with larger visitor numbers.

In December, the Thai government said it aimed to upgrade Hua Hin’s existing airport to allow for fully fledged international flights to start by this year.

The airport’s runway would be lengthened and widened to meet international standards for wider aircraft, and a road tunnel and runway-end safety area would also be expanded by April 2026 as part of the 300 million baht (US$8.8 million) plan, local media reported.

Its airport currently serves one domestic route – a Thai AirAsia flight four times a week to and from Chiang Mai.

AirAsia had operated flights between Hua Hin and Kuala Lumpur from 2018 but the route was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no public word on which airlines or destinations would be served after the redevelopment.

...

To mayor Nopporn, it is unclear if the existing airport - opened in 1961 - is still fit for purpose. Its location, about 6km from the city centre, is close to the busy urban core and would exacerbate traffic issues, he said.

“Everyone wants to move (the runway expansion) forward but I’m not sure about the limitation of the existing runway. I’m not sure what the solution is,” he said.

An alternative, he suggested, is to build a new full-scale international airport in an outer sub-district 30 kilometres from Hua Hin.

“I think there should be another airport that can meet all the needs and standards. It would expand the city’s development, there will be no congestion and it could connect visitors to Cha-am, downtown Hua Hin, or through a bypass road to other areas,” he said.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/th ... sm-5037451

[Big Boy]

I know this is a more reputable source, but how long has the redevelopment been going on? Have they actually done anything? The last time I flew from Hua Hin (must be over a year ago), the word was the work was nearing completion. I didn't notice any real difference, but we keep getting the same message - International flights are coming when the upgrade is complete. A bit like saying beer will be free at all bars tomorrow. Why doesn't somebody come clean, and tell us what they have completed, and advise the work still to be done with timescales? Wasn't the airport closed for a few months a couple of years ago while they completed this upgrade?

All that I get from this latest article is they've been working on improvements, but forget that wasted cash, lets build a new airport on a green field site.

Articles like this make me sick. Aren't we the good guys, spending ฿XM for how many years. We're now going to investigate a new project, for another load of money.

[buksida]

Essentially, the reporter knows nothing about Hua Hin and got a quote from the Mayor who is blowing his own trumpet and trying to big the town up. Its taken them a decade to fix a few meters of road at the end of the Pranburi bypass.

New international airport in Hua Hin with full transport links to the city ... 2050 ... maybe?

[Dannie Boy]

In that case most of the members here won’t enjoy the experience - we’ll have flown up to the pearly gates long before then!!

[Big Boy]

This is my point precisely. Its not that long ago the airport was closed while they completed widening and lengthening work. Since then we have occassional flights to Chiang Mai. Now the news is another widening and lengthening contract has been signed off. So what happened to the previous work?

Hua Hin set to soar: Runway makeover aims to lift tourism fortunes

After years stuck on the tarmac, Hua Hin could finally be cleared for international take-off, with a long-overdue runway revamp set to bring in global jet-setters and breathe new life into the coastal city’s flagging tourism trade.

The sun-soaked resort town may soon welcome international flights for the first time in years, as Thai officials look to upgrade the sleepy airport and get Hua Hin flying high again.

Authorities have signed off on a 300 million baht facelift to lengthen and widen the existing runway, allowing wider-bodied aircraft to land. The project, due for completion by April 2026, is part of a nationwide push to promote secondary destinations.

The mayor of Hua Hin, Nopporn Wutthiku, is all in, calling the beachside city a “sea-sand-sun” destination and likening it to a football striker tasked with scoring for the team.

https://thethaiger.com/news/hua-hin/hua ... m-fortunes?

[caller]

If they lengthen the runway, it either has to go out to sea, or cross the canal road, presumably via another bridge.

[fft100]

I remember talk of a new airport west of the bypass 18+ years ago. I suspect the price of land has gone up so much that unless they already have control of it, a new airport has little chance of a go ahead.

And... The new railway goes into town. Original plan was west of town, near the bypass. Which would make a lot more sense (with spur into HH) if the airport was going to be west as well.

Mind you, there was going to be a Disney land (or equivalent ) near the bypass as well.

It is possible that nothing is connected :-). Or happens :-)