Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has approved a proposal to speed up construction of a new passenger terminal and monorail system at Suvarnabhumi airport.
AoT board chairman Prasong Phunthanet said the 24-billion-baht development will enable the airport to cope with an extra 20 million passengers a year.
Mr Prasong, who is also chief of the Revenue Department, said officials are expected to finalise the proposal within two months. The plans will then be reviewed by the AoT board and submitted to the cabinet for final approval before the end of the year.
The chairman said bidding for the terminal is expected to take place early next year. A monorail will be built to take passengers to the new terminal, which will be located north of Concourse A.
Mr Prasong said the construction of the terminal and monorail will push back the second phase development of Suvarnabhumi by 10 years.
He said the scheme does not overlap with the second phase, adding the board has agreed to proceed with the plans because they are "cost effective".
The terminal is expected to be operational in 2018. It will house 10 parking bays and handle 20 million passengers annually.
Suvarnabhumi now has the capacity to cope with 45 million passengers a year.
"The second phase requires an investment of 62.5 billion baht, which is likely to cause liquidity problems for AoT in 2016-2017," Mr Prasong said.
"AoT may have to seek loans or issue bonds to raise funds. But the terminal project will require about one-third of that amount."
Plans to install an advance passenger processing system (APPS) to speed up immigration checks at the airport are still under review.
The proposed revenue-sharing structure for the system currently violates monetary and finance law.
The proposed bidding terms for the project will be revised to encourage competition, Mr Prasong said.
The system will allow officials to obtain passengers profiles from their countries of origin and check for people blacklisted or banned from leaving a country.
On the proposed construction of a third runway at Suvarnabhumi, he said officials have been asked to draw up proposals based on two length options.
If the new runway is restricted to 2,900 metres, the AoT must conduct an environmental impact assessment on its construction.
If the length exceeds 4,000 metres, it must carry out a health and environmental impact assessment.
Mr Prasong said the AoT board has also agreed to develop U Tapao naval air base into a commercial airport as part of a National Council for Peace and Order initiative.
The AoT will manage the airport which is expected to serve chartered flights and accommodate 2.5 million passengers a year.
A budget of 100 million baht will be sought to refurbish the terminal.
The board also ordered the transfer of Don Mueang airport director Jaturongkapol Sodmanee.
According to a source, Mr Jaturongkapol is implicated in alleged irregularities involving an AoT labour union land improvement scheme.
AoT board member Sutthirat Rattanachote has been appointed to head a committee looking into the allegations.