Thailand expands main airport capacity to 60 million
Thailand is going ahead with the enhancement of its main airport Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok, stepping up the capacity of the congested travel hub to 60 million from 45 million passengers over the next six years.
Suvarnabhumi, which is the second busiest airport in Southeast Asia behind Jakarta in terms of passenger numbers and the sixth busiest in Asia behind Bejing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Dubai, ahead of Singapore, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur as per 2011 figures by Airports Council International, is running way beyond capacity.
The airport, designed for 45 million passengers a year, registered a throughput of 47.9 million in 2011, and the number is expected to rise to 51 million in 2012. Growth over the last years was in the double percentage figures.
The Thai government has assigned a 62.5-billion-baht programme to add capacity to the congested airport. By 2018, at the latest, the airport should be able to manage 60 million passengers per year, which comes close to Tokyo’s current passenger volume.
Airports of Thailand, operator of the airport, is expected to choose a project management firm for the expansion at its meeting on May 17 and then will also choose contractors for the mega project. Three firms, PCBK International, Index International, and TEAM Consulting Engineering and Management, are bidding for the role as project manager.
In a statement on April 25, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) remarked that Thailand needs to urgently build new terminal and runway capacity at Suvarnabhumi “to ensure it remains one of the region’s top hubs.”
Aviation contributed 139 billion baht to Thailand’s GDP, or 1.5 per cent, in 2011. This number rises to 818 billion baht or 9 per cent of GDP when its contribution to the tourism sector is factored in.
It is currently unclear what role Bangkok’s second airport Don Mueang will be playing in the future. The former main international airport has been closed for several months after it had been flooded in November 2011 and was reopened in February 2012. It is currently used as a regional hub for Thailand’s discount carrier Nok Air. There are plans to move operations of other discount airlines to Don Mueang to ease traffic at Suvarnabhumi. Air Asia has already declared interest as Airports of Thailand is combining such a shift with a number of incentives.
[caption id="attachment_2925" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport is operating way beyond its capacity of 45 million passengers"][/caption] Thailand is going ahead with the enhancement of its main airport Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok, stepping up the capacity of the congested travel hub to 60 million from 45 million passengers over the next six years. Suvarnabhumi, which is the second busiest airport in Southeast Asia behind Jakarta in terms of passenger numbers and the sixth busiest in Asia behind Bejing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Dubai, ahead of Singapore, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur as per 2011 figures by Airports Council International, is running...
Thailand is going ahead with the enhancement of its main airport Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok, stepping up the capacity of the congested travel hub to 60 million from 45 million passengers over the next six years.
Suvarnabhumi, which is the second busiest airport in Southeast Asia behind Jakarta in terms of passenger numbers and the sixth busiest in Asia behind Bejing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Dubai, ahead of Singapore, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur as per 2011 figures by Airports Council International, is running way beyond capacity.
The airport, designed for 45 million passengers a year, registered a throughput of 47.9 million in 2011, and the number is expected to rise to 51 million in 2012. Growth over the last years was in the double percentage figures.
The Thai government has assigned a 62.5-billion-baht programme to add capacity to the congested airport. By 2018, at the latest, the airport should be able to manage 60 million passengers per year, which comes close to Tokyo’s current passenger volume.
Airports of Thailand, operator of the airport, is expected to choose a project management firm for the expansion at its meeting on May 17 and then will also choose contractors for the mega project. Three firms, PCBK International, Index International, and TEAM Consulting Engineering and Management, are bidding for the role as project manager.
In a statement on April 25, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) remarked that Thailand needs to urgently build new terminal and runway capacity at Suvarnabhumi “to ensure it remains one of the region’s top hubs.”
Aviation contributed 139 billion baht to Thailand’s GDP, or 1.5 per cent, in 2011. This number rises to 818 billion baht or 9 per cent of GDP when its contribution to the tourism sector is factored in.
It is currently unclear what role Bangkok’s second airport Don Mueang will be playing in the future. The former main international airport has been closed for several months after it had been flooded in November 2011 and was reopened in February 2012. It is currently used as a regional hub for Thailand’s discount carrier Nok Air. There are plans to move operations of other discount airlines to Don Mueang to ease traffic at Suvarnabhumi. Air Asia has already declared interest as Airports of Thailand is combining such a shift with a number of incentives.
