Bangkok’s Airport To Undergo Some Major Renovations
Number of visitors to Thailand is growing, so there is the need to expand its capital's airport capacity
Airports of Thailand (AOT) are planning to spend 1.9 billion dollars over the next five years to expand capacity at Bangkok's overcrowded Suvarnabhumi airport boosting its capacity to 60 million passengers in 2017, its president Anirut Thanomkulbutra said on Wednesday.
About 80 percent of the budget will come from AOT's cash and the remaining 20 percent from a domestic loan, he said, adding it had hired ECM Consortium to manage the expansion.
Bangkok's old Don Muang airport, which these days is used by private planes, budget airlines and freight carriers, will take some of the strain from July 2012 when some scheduled commercial operations will move back there, Anirut Thanomkulbutra said.
"Don Muang will be opened in July and serve both domestic and international airlines and we aim to have about 8 million passengers a year," he said.
The airport operator made a net profit of 2.99 billion baht (USD$93.83 million) in the second quarter ending March 31, up more than two-thirds from a year earlier, thanks to the growing number of developing-world passengers and growth in low-cost air travel.
Passenger numbers to Thailand through its six airports are expected to reach 70 million this fiscal year, up from 66 million last year, Anirut Thanomkulbutra said.
