April 23, 2008
Bangkok - The Airports of Thailand (AoT)’s Suvarnabhumi expansion plan has already got approval in principle from the Air Transport and Airport System Development Commission, according to government spokesman Po Lt Gen Wichienchote Sukchoterat.
"The plan was approved at the meeting of the commission yesterday. The meeting agreed in principal," Wichienchote said.
AoT was required to adjust some details and provide further information for the cabinet meeting next week.
Ten projects including building the third runway are included in the 73.7-billion-baht (2.3-billion-dollar) plan to expand the 18-month-old Suvarnabhumi.
AoT which is 70% owned by finance ministry plans to spend about 3.6 billion baht on the construction of the third runway this year.
The expansion plan is to improve the airport's ability to cope with increasing numbers of passengers and maintain Thailand as Southeast Asia's air transport hub.
Suvarnabhumi Airport can handle 45 million passengers a year and the number of passengers keeps going up.
The airport opened ten days after the September 2006 coup while the nearly-century-old Don Muang Airport later reopened for domestic flights to ease crowds at the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
