Muang Ou Tai Airport

Economic reasons. The airport, officially known as Boun Neua Airport (IATA: PCQ, ICAO: VLBN), suspended all commercial flight operations due to extremely low passenger demand. The sole airline operating the route, Lao Skyway, found the Vientiane-Boun Neua service to be commercially unsustainable and unprofitable, leading to the cessation of flights just a few years after the airport's inauguration.

The airport is currently inactive and dormant. While it is not officially decommissioned, it serves no scheduled or charter flights. The physical infrastructure, including the runway, taxiways, and a modern terminal building, remains in place and appears to be in a state of care and maintenance, as visible in recent satellite imagery. The site is not being used for any other purpose and is essentially a 'ghost airport' awaiting a potential revival of air services.

The facility identified by the coordinates and the unofficial ICAO code LA-0003 is officially Boun Neua Airport. Its significance is not historical in a traditional sense, but rather as a modern case study in infrastructure development.

- **Modern Development Project:** Opened in 2015, the airport was a major development project for the remote and mountainous Phongsaly Province. It was constructed with significant Chinese investment and technical assistance, reflecting the growing economic ties between Laos and China.
- **Strategic Goal:** The primary goal was to unlock the economic and tourism potential of northern Laos by providing a modern air link to the capital, Vientiane, and potentially to cities in neighboring China. The airport was built with a 2,500-meter runway capable of handling larger aircraft like the Airbus A320, indicating ambitious plans.
- **Operations (2015-~2017):** When active, it was served exclusively by Lao Skyway, which operated flights using smaller turboprop aircraft (such as the Xian MA60) to and from Vientiane's Wattay International Airport. The airport never reached its intended capacity or attracted the projected passenger numbers.

There are currently no firm, publicly announced plans or a set timeline for the reopening of Boun Neua Airport to commercial traffic. Any prospect of reopening is entirely dependent on a significant future increase in tourism or economic activity in Phongsaly Province that would justify the resumption of flights. Lao government officials have occasionally expressed hope for its revival in the context of broader regional development, but the fundamental challenge of low demand and high operational costs remains the primary obstacle. Without a new economic driver for the region, the airport is likely to remain inactive for the foreseeable future.