Chiang Rai Airport (CEI) — Direct Flights, Airlines, THB Fares

Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai Airport (CEI, ICAO VTCT) is in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is the based hub of Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Thai Smile. In the SiamFlights catalogue, CEI is served by 5 airlines across 1 route (0 outbound, 1 inbound).

Airport at a glance

Our catalogue records 0 outbound and 1 inbound corridors at Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai Airport (CEI / ICAO VTCT), serving Chiang Rai, Thailand, across 5 carriers with 3 of them based here. Time zone Asia/Bangkok. Frequency across the corridors touching this field totals about 42 departures a week.

IATA and ICAO are used in different places. The three-letter CEI is the IATA code that appears on tickets, bag tags and search screens; VTCT is the four-letter ICAO code used in flight plans, notices to airmen and operational paperwork. IATA codes can collide for historical reasons; ICAO codes do not, and their first letters encode the region. A four-letter code in aviation documentation is not an error — it is a different system.

A base changes the outcome when things break. Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Thai Smile are based at CEI, meaning aircraft, crew and operations staff sit on site. When a flight is cancelled the odds of a seat on the next rotation, or of a spare airframe, are far better at a base than at an outstation the carrier touches once a day. It is why the leg departing an airline’s own base usually recovers faster than the one returning to it.

Airlines serving CEI

5 carriers appear at CEI in our catalogue and we hold an airline row for 4 of them, with baseline baggage spanning 7 to 15 kg. None of the rows we hold sits in a major alliance. 3 of them are based here.

“Serves” is not “flies daily”. This list covers every carrier appearing on a corridor into or out of CEI in our catalogue. Some fly seasonally, some a few times a week, and some sell as the marketing carrier on a partner’s aircraft. The number that matters to your plan is how many actually quote your dates — usually fewer than the full list.

The 7–15 kg range is two business models under one roof. The low end comes from unbundled fares that sell hold baggage separately; the high end from full-service carriers that include it. At the same airport those two desks price excess weight on different scales and by different methods. Connect between the two on separate tickets and a bag that cleared the first sector may not clear the second.

CEI route overview

CEI has 0 outbound corridors in our catalogue, roughly 0 departures a week All figures are estimates of the standard schedule. 5 carriers appear at CEI, 3 of them based at the field. Frequency across the corridors touching this field totals about 42 departures a week.

Inbound

This field sits in our catalogue as a destination. We record 1 inbound corridors into it, splitting 1 short-haul (<4h), and no outbound guides — we build route pages only for journeys starting in Thailand. Departures from here exist; they simply have no page in this set yet. Read the carrier’s own schedule for the return.

Outbound and inbound are asymmetric because this is a catalogue boundary. We record 0 outbound and 1 inbound corridors for CEI. The gap reflects which route guides we chose to build — weighted to what travellers from Thailand search — not one-way service. The return flights exist whether or not we have published a page for them yet.

Corridors & fares from CEI

The 1 corridor at CEI break down as 1 short-haul (<4h), serving mainly ASEAN & regional leisure. We hold a cached fare for 1 of 1 route, the lowest ฿2,219 on BKK–CEI. The corridors touching this field connect 1 country in our catalogue.

Most CEI corridors here serve ASEAN & regional leisure travellers. The mix is 1 short hop (under 4 h). Fares are shown in Thai baht (THB), and each route guide below carries live cached prices.

Why some rows have no price. We capture lows in passes, and not every corridor returns a value each time. Seasonal routes, thin routes and routes sold through narrow channels report irregularly. An empty cell means no capture succeeded in the latest pass — not that the route is closed or expensive. We leave it blank rather than interpolate, because plausible-looking estimates are exactly what makes a table untrustworthy.

Everything is shown in baht, and that matters more than it looks. Fares are converted to THB so they compare on one page, but the underlying prices are set in the currency of the market that issues the ticket. The same corridor can price differently issued in different countries, and the exchange rate moves between our capture passes. Read these as a ranking, not as accounting figures.

Direct flights to CEI — 1 route

Our catalogue records 1 inbound corridors into CEI from 1 country, block times 1.3 to 1.3 hours. Frequency figures are estimates combining every carrier on the corridor. Frequency across the corridors touching this field totals about 42 departures a week.

• BKK → CEI — 42×/wk, 1.3 h, low ฿2,219

How to read this list usefully. The frequency figure describes the risk in your plan, not the quality of the route: several departures a day gives you options when something breaks, a few a week means building in a spare day. We hold a cached fare on 1 of the 1 corridor here; the rest have no successful capture yet, which does not mean they cost more.

Direct destinations are not all reachable destinations. This list is the nonstop network in our catalogue. Everything else is reachable by connecting at a hub, which widens the choice and adds a point where the plan can break. If you must connect, make a single ticket the default and only split it when the saving is large enough to be worth the risk you are taking on yourself.

Time zone and connecting at CEI

Our catalogue records 0 outbound and 1 inbound corridors here. CEI runs on Asia/Bangkok, the same as Bangkok. The gap is constant year-round. Every time printed on a boarding pass is local to that airport rather than an elapsed duration, so subtracting one from the other gives you the wrong number.

International-to-domestic is a full re-entry. At most airports that connection means clearing immigration, reclaiming the bag for customs, then checking in and passing security again — even on a single ticket. It takes materially longer than an international-to-international transfer. Plan around the actual steps rather than the gap printed on the itinerary.

Offsets make overnight flights deceptive. With CEI the same as Bangkok, a late-night departure can arrive the same morning or the next one on paper for identical flying time. That is the single most common reason transfers and first hotel nights get booked on the wrong date. Read the date on the final sector’s boarding pass, then confirm anything on the ground.

FAQ

Where is CEI airport located?

CEI (ICAO VTCT) is in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Which airlines serve CEI?

5 airlines serve CEI, including Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Thai Smile and Thai Vietjet. Compare baggage and alliances in the table above.

How many routes run from/to CEI?

The SiamFlights catalogue lists 0 outbound and 1 inbound routes for CEI.

Is CEI an airline hub?

CEI is a primary hub for Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Thai Smile.

What is the difference between CEI and VTCT?

CEI is the three-letter IATA code used on tickets and bag tags; VTCT is the four-letter ICAO code used in flight plans and operational documents. They are different systems, not an inconsistency.

How far is CEI from Bangkok time?

CEI runs on Asia/Bangkok, the same as Bangkok. It does not change clocks seasonally, so the gap is constant.

Why do some CEI corridors show no fare?

Because no capture succeeded in the latest pass of our cache. Seasonal and low-frequency corridors report irregularly. A blank is not a closed route or an expensive one.

Related

• BKK → CEI