The Airports of Thailand Company (AOT) plans to invest an estimated 300 billion baht in developing the six existing international airports to cope with the increasing number of passengers, AOT President Paweena Jariyathitipong said on Thursday.
She said that the expansion project will, however, be implemented in phases to avoid unnecessary increases in public borrowing, adding that the AOT has sufficient cash flow to implement the first phase in the next five years without the need to borrow.
The six airports earmarked for expansion are Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai and Chiang Rai.
Last year, Suvarnabhumi airport handled over 62.6 million passengers, despite the fact that the passenger terminals were designed to cater to only 45 million annually.
To cope with the increased number of passengers, Paweena said that the AOT had resorted to the short-term solutions of introducing self check-in, self bag-drop and an automatic boarding system, adding that this will not be sufficient to meet future needs.
The AOT will seek Cabinet approval for the expansion of the eastern wing passenger terminal, 33 more check-in counters and three additional sets of luggage conveyors, to ease bottlenecks and increase the airport’s capacity to 70 million passengers annually.
Nonetheless, this expansion will be insufficient, as passengers are expected to increase to 77 million, hence the need to expand the southern wing of the passenger terminal.
Meanwhile, the AOT will shut down the main terminal for major renovation, which will increase the airport’s capacity to 85 million passengers per annum when complete.
At Don Mueang airport, which has been operational for 112 years, the AOT plans to build a third passenger terminal and implement several other projects to increase capacity to 40 million passengers annually.
At Chiang Mai airport, the AOT is adjusting the design of the new passenger terminal to accommodate both domestic and international passengers, cut management costs and to put the renovation of the old terminal building on hold.
Phuket airport was designed to handle 18 million passengers per annum and the actual number of passengers using the airport now stands at 17.3 million. Its runways can accommodate only 25 flights per hour.
The AOT is also accelerating the design of the expansion of the passenger terminal to ease congestion. The work is expected to be undertaken from 2028 through to 2031.
Hat Yai airport is now handling about 3.3 million passengers annually, despite the passenger terminal having been designed for 2.5 million. The AOT is currently drawing up a new master plan for the airport, which is expected to be completed in the next three months.
Chiang Rai airport is currently undergoing renovation of its passenger terminal and other facilities.
