Airport expansion a priority

BANGKOK Airports of Thailand plans to invest THB93 billion on improving Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket airports to ease congestion.
AoT chairman, Prasong Poontaneat, said THB85 billion would be spent on Suvarnabhumi airport including THB20 billion for a satellite terminal.
Don Mueang Airport improvements will cost THB3 billion to raise its passenger-handling capacity to 30 million annually.
inside no 3Terminal construction at Phuket Airport will cost THB5 billion.
AoT needs to borrow funds to complete the project, although the chairman did not give any details of how much would be raised through loans and how much would come from accumulated profit earnings.
Besides this investment, AoT said it will continue to boost its airports shopping mall content with more duty-free zones.
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong gave support to the plan saying: “The plan aims to ease passenger congestions in front of immigration booths. We need to cut the waiting time from one hour to around 15 minutes per passenger.”
The minister added: “Under the airport improvement project, Suvarnabhumi Airport will gain another runway, higher cargo handling capacity and better safety systems for clients.”
The three airports are the main gateways. Last year, Suvarnabhumi airport handled 51.36 passengers, Don Mueang 16.47 million and Phuket 11.34 million.

sourced:ttrweekly.com