B10bn expansion planned for Don Mueang airport

BANGKOK, March 1 (TNA) -- A 10-billion-baht project to expand Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport will be proposed to the board of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) on March 23. The construction is set for completion in 2021 and will raise the airport’s passenger-handling capacity to 40 million people a year. AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said despite the reopening of the renovated Terminal 2 of Don Mueang airport last December and the opening of the fifth pier in early February to relieve congestion, the number of travelers at the airport was rising and the facility needed further expansion. Don Mueang airport director Phet Chan-charoen said four-storied Terminal 2 had 106,586.5 square meters of usable areas. It serves passengers of domestic flights and has 80 check-in counters and 101 parking bays. Terminal 1 serves passengers of international flights. With its two terminals, Don Mueang airport is capable of handling 30 million passengers annually. An old domestic terminal will be renovated and a new terminal will be built and connected to a planned Don Mueang electric train junction station. A new parking building will also be constructed to serve about 3,000 vehicles. The expansion is scheduled for completion in 2021 and designed to raise the airport’s capacity to 40 million passengers a year. At present Don Mueang airport serves 80,000 -110,000 passengers a day or 28 million people a year and handles 650-680 flights a day. (TNA)