Laos Transportation - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 1 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 12

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 1,251,961 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 1.53 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

RDPL

Airports

41 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

8

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

33

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Pipelines

540 km refined products (2013)

Railways

total: 422 km (2023)

standard gauge: 422 km (2023) 1.435-m gauge (422 km overhead electrification)

Roadways

total: 39,586 km (2009)

paved: 5,415 km (2009)

unpaved: 34,171 km (2009)

Waterways

4,600 km (2012) (primarily on the Mekong River and its tributaries; 2,900 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m)

Merchant marine

total: 1

by type: general cargo 1 (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Laos on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Laos 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Laos 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.