Attapeu International Airport was an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

that served

Attapeu Attapeu (, ), also written as Attopu or Attapu, is a town in southern Laos, serving as the capital of Attapeu province. Its official name is Muang Samakhi Xay. It is the southernmost of provincial capitals in Laos. Most of the inhabitants are La ...

in Laos. It opened in May 2015 following two years of construction. Lao Airlines provided flights from

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

via

Pakse Pakse (or ''Pakxe''; French: ''Paksé''; Laotian: ປາກເຊ 'mouth of the river') is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, the distri ...

three times a week; however, it stopped them in October 2016 because of low passenger demand. The airport was officially closed in 2017. Attapeu Province has a small population (140,000) and does not receive much tourism, which have been cited as factors in the airport's closure. In 2022, the airport was handed over to the Lao People's Liberation Air Force.

History

On 11 February 2012, officials of the Lao and Vietnamese governments attended the

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

ceremony for the airport, which is located near the LaoVietnamese border. Construction began in May 2013 and ended in April 2015. Vietnam's

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL Group; ), registered as Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (), less formally known by its trading name Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), is a diversified company headquartered in Pleiku, Vietnam. From a small furniture p ...

provided a loan of almost 300 billion

kip Kip, KIP or kips may refer to: Athletics * Kip (artistic gymnastics), a basic skill on the women's uneven bars * Kip (trampolining), a coaching skill used in trampolining * Kip-up, an acrobatic manoeuvre used in martial arts and gymnastics Peo ...

(more than US$36.1 million) for the construction of the airport. The Attapeu airport officially opened on 30 May 2015 as the first international facility in the province. In June 2015, ''TTR Weekly'' reported that neither of the two airlines providing domestic flights in Laos, Lao Airlines and Lao Skyway, had shown interest in serving Attapeu. Lao Airlines had conducted a year-long survey but found little interest. Although Attapeu Province has seen increased economic activity in the sectors of power production, mining, and timber, because of its proximity to Vietnam, however has few tourist attractions. Nevertheless, Lao Airlines introduced twice-weekly flights from

via

on 9 April 2016. The frequency was increased to thrice-weekly in July. However, Lao Airlines ended the route in October 2016 because of low passenger numbers. The following January, authorities closed down the airport.

Infrastructure

The Attapeu airport has one

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

that measures . The terminal was built to handle 300 passengers per day.

Access

The airport is located along Route 18B in Saysetha District, roughly from Attapeu.

References

{{authority control Airports in Laos Buildings and structures in Attapeu province Airports established in 2015 2015 establishments in Laos