Month: May 2026

Ban Chang · Rayong province — ~40 km from both Pattaya and Rayong town, ~140 km southeast of Bangkok · Visa · THB U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport (UTP) — Airport Guide 2026 Terminal 3 broke ground on 3 April 2026 on what will eventually be the Eastern Seaboard’s main international airport — but until that three-to-four-year … Read more

Bo Phut · north coast of Ko Samui — about 2 km from Chaweng · 60 · THB Samui Airport (USM) — Airport Guide 2026 Bangkok Airways built this airport in 1982, opened it in April 1989, and still owns every square metre of it — which explains both its unusual character and its stubborn … Read more

~9 km east of central Hat Yai · Songkhla Province · Exempt, currently 60 day · THB Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) — Airport Guide 2026 Hat Yai International is southern Thailand’s main airport — a compact single-terminal operation 9 km east of a city that exists primarily for cross-border commerce, and in May 2026 … Read more

~11 km north of central Cheongju · Chungcheongbuk-do · KRW Cheongju International Airport (CJJ) — Airport Guide 2026 From 1 January 2026, every foreign traveller landing in Korea — visa-free or otherwise — must submit a Korea e-Arrival Card online before arrival. That is the one practical change that makes this year’s version of this … Read more

Sinchon-dong · Gwangsan District, western Gwangju · Cleared at international · KRW Gwangju Airport (KWJ) — Airport Guide 2026 Gwangju Airport is a compact domestic terminal on the western edge of South Korea’s sixth-largest city — two destinations, five carriers, and, as of a December 2025 agreement, an agreed plan to relocate the whole operation … Read more

~3–8 km from central Daegu · North Gyeongsang region, southeast South Korea · KRW Daegu International Airport (TAE) — Airport Guide 2026 Daegu International Airport sits 3–8 km from the city centre, sharing a runway with a Republic of Korea Air Force base and a US Forces Korea presence — one of the stranger civilian … Read more

~3 km north of central Jeju City · island’s north coast · Korea national visa · KRW Jeju International Airport (CJU) — Airport Guide 2026 The Jeju–Seoul Gimpo corridor is the busiest commercial air route on the planet — roughly 14.4 million scheduled seats in 2025, about 39,000 a day — and CJU is one … Read more

Busan · South Korea · 90 days for most Western · KRW Gimhae International Airport (PUS) — Airport Guide 2026 South Korea’s border went paperless on 1 January 2026: the e-Arrival Card is now mandatory for foreign visitors, the old paper slip is gone, and every traveller who didn’t get the memo is finding out … Read more

~6.7 km northeast of Niigata Station · Niigata City · Japan visa exemption · JPY Niigata Airport (KIJ) — Airport Guide 2026 The airport for Japan’s largest city on the Sea of Japan coast sits 6.7 km from Niigata Station — close enough that a four-hour layover can include a genuine trip into the historic … Read more

Shiraho district · ~15 km from central Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture · Japan visa · JPY New Ishigaki Airport (ISG) — Airport Guide 2026 New Ishigaki Airport replaced a short-runway predecessor in March 2013, moved to the Shiraho side of the island, and has since served as the main point of entry for the Yaeyama Islands … Read more

~8 km east of central Hakodate · near Yunokawa Onsen · Exemption for ~74 countr · JPY Hakodate Airport (HKD) — Airport Guide 2026 Southern Hokkaido’s regional airport punches above its size for one reason: it is 8 km from a city centre with a functioning morning market, a Michelin-listed salt-ramen tradition, and enough waterfront … Read more

Mashiki · ~20 km east of central Kumamoto, Kyushu · Visa · JPY Aso Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) — Airport Guide 2026 Mt Aso’s Nakadake crater has been closed to visitors since January 2026 — a helicopter crashed on the volcano’s southeast flank and the wreck remains unrecovered — which removes the airport’s most-marketed attraction from … Read more

Natori · Miyagi Prefecture — ~20 km southeast of central Sendai, on the coast · Visa · JPY Sendai Airport (SDJ) — Airport Guide 2026 The Sendai Airport Access Line runs a train from under the terminal to Sendai Station in 25 minutes, which makes this the most straightforwardly usable regional airport in Tohoku — … Read more

~50 km northeast of central Hiroshima · in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture · ~74 countries/regions; u · JPY Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) — Airport Guide 2026 Hiroshima Airport sits 50 km northeast of the city centre — in Mihara, technically, not in Hiroshima — and has no rail link, a fact that is not an accident but … Read more

Kirishima · ~30 km northeast of central Kagoshima · Visa exemption · JPY Kagoshima Airport (KOJ) — Airport Guide 2026 Kagoshima Airport is not in Kagoshima. It sits in Kirishima, about 30 km inland and northeast of the city, ringed by volcanic hills and onsen towns — a geography that determines almost every decision you’ll … Read more