Pakse Airport remains closed

Lao Airlines? Bangkok office says Pakse Airport should reopen to air traffic, 25 October, according to a notice issued by the Lao aviation authorities on the status of an airport upgrade.

Pakse Airport?s runway has been extended to accommodate larger aircraft and improvements have been made to the airport terminal and back-up services.

A TTR Weekly reader requested information on the airport?s status, last Friday, after contradictory information suggested the airport might not open until early December, while other sources said flights would resume in November, or as early as this month.

Lao Airline executives, however, were cautious on concluding there would be no more updates on the opening schedule.

?We are in receipt of the latest written update issued by aviation authorities that states a deadline of 25 October, but it is always subject to change.?

The general consensus is that the airport will reopen in early to mid-November. Until then, passengers who are booked to travel from Pakse to Luang Prabang on Lao Airlines transfer by bus to Savannakhet in central Laos, a distance of 247 km, where they join a flight to Luang Prabang or Vientiane.

Reliable sources in the travel industry, who have visited Pakse recently, said residents are keen to have their air services back in time for the high season. There are new hotels and guest houses due to open and the season, that gets underway in November, is short at the best of times, fading into a very quiet low season as early as March.

Sourced = The TTR Weekly