Airport Capacity - Suvarnabhumi Airport is the gateway to Thailand and has the potential to become a major aviation hub in the region, but it also faces intense competition from airports in neighboring countries which offer excellent facilities and a minimum connecting TIME of 60 minutes or less, while Suvarnabhumi still requires 75 minutes. This is a major factor when developing the hub concept. These competing airports already have the infrastructure in place to meet future increases in passengers, while Suvarnabhumi Airport will soon reach its maximum capacity of 45 million passengers annually and yet expansion plans are still just in the planning stage.