Xieng Khouang Airport Reopening
Xieng Khouang Airport is one of the very important domestic airport in Laos, it’s also known as Phonsavanh Airport or Thong Hai Hin Airport. The airport has been closed from October 1st 2024 and it expected to reopen in June 2025 after huge renovation in the last 12 months.
Key components of the current renovation phase include the refurbishment of the existing runway, a 550-meter extension to accommodate larger aircraft, and the construction of a new taxiway, all set for completion by the end of 2025.
The Russian-funded renovation has included installing electronic scanners and runway lighting, enhancing the radar facility, and upgrading the passenger terminal.
Since 12 June 2020, the administration and operation of the airport have been under the Lao People’s Liberation Army Air Force, having previously been managed by the Civil Aviation Department under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. While it now functions primarily as an airbase for the military, the airport continues to support public aviation activities
The improvement initiative began in 2019 when the Lao government first launched plans to upgrade Xieng Khouang Airport.
Once fully completed, this would enhance the airport’s capacity to accommodate increasing passenger numbers while supporting national defense requirements.
Xieng Khouang or Phonsavanh attract Tourists from over the world, as it offers beautiful scenery and the Archaeological landscapes. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The jars are arranged in clusters ranging in number from one to several hundred.
The Xiangkhoang Plateau is at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. French researcher Madeleine Colani concluded in 1930 that the jars were associated with burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the jars. Researchers (using optically stimulated luminescence) determined that the jars were put in place as early as 1240 to 660 BC. The jars at Site 1 (using detrital zircon geochronology) were determined to have been transported to their current location from a presumed quarry eight kilometers away. The Plain of Jars is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia.
The Plain of Jars in Laos officially became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 10th 2019. This inscription was finalized during a meeting of the World Heritage Committee held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The site, also known as the Megalithic Jar Sites, is located in Xiang Khouang Province and is notable for its numerous megalithic stone jars, believed to have been used for funerary practices.
Travel into Xieng Khouang can be by road from Luang Prabang, Sam Neua, VangVieng & Vientiane. The only one flight is from Vientiane Airport.
Start your next trip to Phonsavan? Contact us for more information at hello@wander-laos.com
