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Needs to grow before demand increases
BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) confirmed its intention to spearhead the 78-billion-baht expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport even as politics and economic woes slow air traffic through Bangkok.
The scheme, which will increase passenger handling capacity at Thailand's gateway airport by 33%, should not be held back by the short-term impacts of the economic recession, said AoT acting president Serirat Prasutanond, adding "we are investing for the future".
The expansion will lift passenger capacity to 60 million a year from 45 million currently and is slated for the next five to six years. It is vital if Suvarnabhumi wants to maintain its hub status in Southeast Asia, said Mr Serirat.
State-controlled AoT also wants to start the expansion project, initially slated for immediately after the airport opened two years ago, so that the facility is ready when demand growth returns.
Despite the slowdown in traffic, the airport is still near its capacity with 42 million passengers expected this year, Mr Serirat said.
The 2009 projection is for the same 42 million, as the global financial crisis affects demand.
"We have a thin margin of three million passengers before reaching the existing capacity and that margin could be easily filled in just one year, based on normal trends," he explained.
In the first 10 months of this year, passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi edged down 0.79% year-on-year to 33.64 million, while flight movements slipped 2.80% to 211,453, according to AoT statistics.
AoT's most recent projection envisaged traffic through Suvarnabhumi would rise by 6.5% short-term, 5.5% medium-term and 4% long-term.
However, the slowdown in demand growth has eased some pressure on AoT to rush its expansion. Suvarnabhumi's so-called phase 2 development plan is being scrutinised by the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Transport MInistry. If endorsed, it will be forwarded to the cabinet for final approval.
AoT aims to call a tender for the airport expansion work next year and hopes to begin construction by the end of 2009.
About 33 billion baht of the estimated project cost would come from loans from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), which was a major lender for the phase-one Suvarnabhumi project that cost 155 billion baht.
The aviation industry warned that Suvarnabhumi was losing to rival airports in Southeast Asia, namely Singapore's Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), as the region's preferred air hubs due to its restricted capacity and high service fees.
The airport, dubbed a pet project of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and fraught with corruption allegations, handled nearly 80 million passengers and 2.42 million tonnes of cargo in the first two years of operation.
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