PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday visited the Phase-II construction site at Suvarnabhumi Airport and ordered Airports of Thailand (AOT), which operates the airport, to boost air-travel capacity at Suvarnabhumi and improve facilities to cope with the growing aviation and tourism sectors.
"The government has a 20-year-development plan, including airport expansion and logistics that have been lined up to link Thailand with [the rest of] Southeast Asia," the PM said.
With the construction of the new phase at Suvarnabhumi having been delayed for six years, Prayut stressed that the country urgently needed more air-travel capacity.
He added that airport development would extend to U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport as well as Don Mueang International Airport, along with the Eastern Economic Corridor mega-project that was now being initiated.
AOT owns and operates six international airports around the country, with Don Mueang claiming to be the regional base for low-cost airlines.
The Cabinet approved the Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion plan in 2010 with a budget of Bt62.5 billion, although this has since been cut to Bt55 billion.
When Phase-II work is completed in 2019, it should increase passenger capacity at the airport from 45 million currently to 60 million per year.
Major works under the programme entail expanding the east passenger terminal (satellite building), taxiway, parking and infrastructure, and consultancy and management projects. AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn yesterday said construction of the satellite building (levels B2, B1 and the ground floor), taxi areas and the east tunnel were set to be completed within 780 days, while the infrastructure work should be finished within 990 days.
Bidding for system
The company will open bidding for an Automated People Mover system by the end of next month and commence installation by February next year, he added.
AOT also plans to build a third runway and a new passenger terminal at Suvarnabhumi as part of the airport's Phase-III expansion, in a move aimed at increasing capacity to 90 million passengers per year by 2020.
Prayut said it was crucial that the aviation development programme also fully took into account concerns about safety and security, which were now global issues.
Thailand and some other countries in Southeast Asia have been facing aviation-safety problems.
International safety regulators, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the US Federal Aviation Administration, declared last year that the Kingdom's aviation sector had fallen below international safety standards.
To solve regional safety and security concerns, the ICAO, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airports Council International have joined forces to address evolving aviation security risks with integrated solutions.
Key topics such as securing landside spaces at airports, information-sharing among governments, managing the risks of home-grown terrorism and preventing cyberthreats will top the agenda at the "25th AVSEC [Aviation Security] World Conference", which takes place from October 25-27 in Kuala Lumpur.