Thailand to spend over Bt93b on upgrading three airports

BANGKOK, November 20 (TNA) - Airports of Thailand Public Company Linited (AOT) plans to spend over 93 billion baht on upgrading the country's three major airports, including Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket Airports, to serve increasing air traffic. During his visit to the AOT headquarters in Bangkok on Thursday, Thai Transport Minister Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong gave the green light to the plan, aimed also at increasing public conveniences. The transport minister cited as an example that queuing time in front of the three airports' immigration booths will be reduced from an hour to 15-30 minutes. The transport minister told journalists he was informed that, under the airport improvement project, Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport will have another runway and get renovated, while also having higher cargo handling capacity and better safety systems for clients. AOT Board Chairman Prasong Poontaneat, who is also Director-General of the Ministry of Finance's Revenue Department, said, meanwhile, the largest proportion of the earmarked budget, or 85 billion baht, will be spent on the Suvarnabhumi Airport, including 20 billion baht for a satellite terminal, while the improvement of Don Mueang Airport will cost about three billion baht to raise its passenger-handling capacity to 30 million annually and the new terminal construction at Phuket Airport will cost about five billion baht. Prasong stated that AOT needs to borrow to fund part of the three airports' expansion plan. According to the AOT chair, AOT is also calculating a budget to improve duty-free zones at Thai airports to not only attract more international travelers, but also to develop Thailand as an aviation hub in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (TNA)