The board of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) approved a 5.79-billion-baht plan to expand Phuket International Airport.
Phuket’s passenger handling capacity will double to 12.5 million a year by 2013.
The board also confirmed Serirat Prasutanond as president of the majority state-owned airport operator and defined future roles for Don Mueang airport, according to AoT executives.
The expansion in Phuket will address crowding at Thailand’s second busiest airport and meet the expected rise in air traffic demand over the next decade.
But the project, which will double passenger handling capacity to 12.5 million a year in 2013, is subject to routine scrutiny from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).
Last year, 5.73 million passengers passed through Phuket airport, according to AoT figures.
But volume in the first four months of this year was slowed by the downturn and local political turmoil, contracting 13.8% to 2.09 million with flights shrinking 17.1% year-on-year to 12,939.
AoT now expects the expansion, including constructing a new terminal for international passengers, improving the existing terminal, upgrading the jet fuelling system and building new taxiways, to commence by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, AoT has embarked on an in-house study on building a terminal dedicated to private jets at the Phuket airport, part of a bid to further enhance the southern resort island’s growing reputation as a destination for the internationally rich and famous and for jet-setting businesspeople.
By: BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Published: 27/06/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
