Mae Fah Luang - Chiang Rai International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

Chiang Rai, Chiang Rai Province (Thailand)

IATA: CEI ICAO: VTCT

Longest Active Runway

9,843 ft

3,000 meters

Field Elevation

1,280 ft

390 m MSL

Runway Inventory

1 active

Lighted / Paved

Coordinates & Class

19.9523°, 99.8829°

LARGE AIRPORT

🏆

Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

tied #603 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#1,132 of 7558

Top 15.9% percentile worldwide

For airports with equal runway length, the worldwide order does not indicate a length difference.

National Standing (Thailand)

#8 of 8 in TH

#10 of 43 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

-1.6%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 CEI in numbers: 9,843 ft longest runway · tied #603 of 650 published · #1,132 of 7,558 worldwide (top 15.9%) · #8 in Thailand.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway 8,000–10,499 ft

⛰️

Elevation & National Context

Lowland Aerodrome (<2,000 ft)

CEI lies at 390 m (1,280 ft), #165 of 650 published airports by elevation and 72.3 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 1,194 ft above the Thailand median (86 ft, 8 airports) and the highest published airport in the country.

🧭

Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

1 Qualifying Aerodrome in Vicinity

Closest of 1 paved-runway (≥5,000 ft) neighbour within 100 NM: Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX), 88.2 NM, 11,155 ft. CNX has the radius's longest runway, 1,312 ft more than CEI.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 9,843 ft (3,000 m)

CEI runway: 03/21 9,843 × 148 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: #8 of 8 in Thailand; BKK leads by 3,280 ft (13,123 ft). −1.6% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
03/21	9,843 ft (3000 m / 3.000 km)	148 ft (45m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active

🧭 Comparative Aerodromes (100 NM Radius, ≥5,000 ft Paved)

Great-circle Haversine spatial proximity matching for commercial facilities with paved runway capacity within 100 NM.

Aerodrome Name	IATA	Distance	Longest Runway	Lighting
Chiang Mai International Airport (Chiang Mai)	`CNX`	88.2 NM (163.3 km)	11,155 ft	✅ Lighted

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →