B12bn Chiang Mai airport expansion approved

Chiang Mai airport will undergo a two-phase expansion costing 12-billion-baht over the next 15 years. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)

The board of Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) on Wednesday approved the 12-billion-baht expansion of Chiang Mai airport over 15 years to serve growing traffic.

AOT chairman Prasong Poontaneat said the project would be implemented in two phases. The first will last ten years from 2016 to 2025 and consume 11-billion-baht of the investment funds. The remaining 1.1 billion baht will be spent in the second phase of five years from 2026 to 2030.

Both phases will raise the passenger-handling capacity of the airport to 20 million annually compared with the present capacity of 12 million, he said.

The first-phase expansion will cover the runways, taxiways and terminal construction and improvement. It is designed to handle 34 flights an hour, or 18 million passengers annually, including 11 million passengers on domestic flights.

This capacity should serve traffic for the next 14 years, or until 2030, Mr Prasong said.

The second-stage expansion is expected to enable the airport to handle 20 million passengers a year consisting of 8 million on international flights and 12 million on domestic flights, sufficient to serve air traffic until 2035.

Traffic at Chiang Mai airport had grown unexpectedly fast in the past decade and about 8.3 million people visited the airport last year, Mr Prasong said.