Airports of Thailand Pcl (AOT) has revealed plans to expand Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport by a third to deal with increased passenger numbers.
The expansion will cost USD1.9 billion. Suvarnabhumi cost USD4 billion when it was completed in September 2006.
The overcrowded airport served 48 million passengers last year and is expected to serve 51 million passengers by September this year. The expansion will boost capacity at the airport by 15 million to serve up to 60 million passengers in 2017.
Construction is due to start in 2015, which means Don Muang airport will once again take some scheduled commercial flights from July 2012 claims AOT president Anirut Thanomkulbutra
“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 told Reuters.
Passenger numbers to Thailand through AOT’s six airports are expected to reach 70 million this fiscal year, up from 66 million last year.
