VTE-Spot
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March 21, 2020Wattay Vientiane Intl. Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on November 5, 2022
Vientiane Wattay International airport (VTE/VLVT) is the biggest airport in Laos and serving the country’s capital, Vientiane. It is a hub for the local carriers Lao Airlines and Lao Skyway.
| General Information | |
| Terminal | There is one terminal. |
| Runway | There is one runway 13/31 with a length of 3000m. |
| Field | |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The spot itself is behind a neigbourhood between some trees. To get there you need a tuk tuk or taxi. Otherwise there is a Mini Bus (lines 30 and 49, last run at 17:15) that stops at the main road next to a B-Mart. From the B-Mart follow the streets as marked on the map trough the neighbourhood to reach the location. |
| WHAT | From here you can photograph the arrivals on runway 13, the one and only of the airport. This is also the major direction and 31 is rarely in use. |
| TIME | Perfect postion from noon until sunset. |
| MISC. | Before you go there buy your stuff at the B-Mart. The area itself is safe BUT all the private houses you have to pass on your way to the spot owning a watch dog. Some of them are straying on the street and sometimes they are very aggressive so be aware of it and maybe you wear a limb with you to protect yourself! At the spot itself there are no dogs! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A320 = 180mm; ATR-72 = 250mm |
On 13 February 2025, I travel with an English-speaking Lao taxi driver who is also a tourist guide to find another plane-spotting site outside the Vientiane airport area. He has brought me to a sandy unpaved road that stretches to a vacant white house on the field with scattered ponds and a few poles with wires next to the unpaved road. Cows are aplenty on the left of the entrance. This site is one minute away from the plane-spotting site featured in the above guide. Here, I can see aircraft flying to land and take off very clearly and beautifully in the blue sky.
There is no “B-Mart” along Thongpong Road actually in Vientiane. After wasting round trip of 800 Baht on 12 February 2025, the taxi driver and me only found the supermarket indicated by the name V-Market. However by following the guide to the stated plane-spotting site, the plane-spotters risk seeing the aircraft flying above the taxi or tuk tuk they travel with at the last minute. Nice photos will be difficult to be captured. By the way, it takes longer time, about 20 to 40 minutes by walking from the main road to the plane-spotting site, depending on the direction taken, as there is no physical road direction sign in this neighbourhood of Vientiane.
I have just booked the Deluxe City View Room with ST Hotel Wattay Airport and will update in due course after I am able to capture shots of aircraft landing and taking off.
Has anyone ever stayed at ST Hotel Wattay Airport, which is of 510 metres away from the Vientiane airport? The hotel communication officer informed me it is possible to do plane-spotting (aircraft landing and taking off) from its Deluxe City-View Room. Focal length is 300 to 600mm. Is it true? Or can anyone recomment me airport hotel in Vientiane with focal length less than 300mm?
This is a fantastic spot at VTE. Sun behind you, trees for a little bit of shadow and many curious cows. Landing planes can be photographed very easy. If you want to photograph planes taking off, you have to continue the unpaved road from the above mentioned spot to the main road towards VTE Airport. On your left you will see a large open space next to a cemetery. The disadvantage are the trees, which means you have to act quickly with your camera. The free bike from my hotel was very useful.
Is that spot near Vientiane airport? The taxi driver that i came across does not know where B-Mart is.
Visiting this location today will send an update
What are your findings?
Is there a plane-spotting hotel or plane-spotting cafe in Vientiane?
There is the Gate 1 with no shelter right next to the Airport Bus Stop of the International Terminal of Wattay Airport. There is no security guard there and I am only able to see partially a Lao Airlines aircraft departing from the nearest Gate. Right inside Wattay Airport, there is no public viewing gallery to see the aircraft at the gates unless the passenger is boarding his outgoing flight.
I went last Thursday to Vientiane to look for the so-called “B-Mart”. There is no “B-Mart” at all according to the taxi driver and his taxi service coordinator. The driver brought me to the Lao-Chinese hypermart named “D-Mart”, which is about a five minutes taxi ride towards Asean Road, where the head office of Lao Skyway is located. I was disappointed and left for Vientiane Wattay Airport without a single photography of an aircraft flying in full-view!