Airports of Thailand Plc looking for airline partners to help further expand Don Mueang airport.
AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said Tuesday the operator is talking with Thai Smile Airways regarding the "third-phase" expansion of Bangkok's older airport, which already is bursting at the seams with 27 million travellers.
A second, renovated passenger terminal will open in November, increasing Don Mueang's capacity to 30 million. The proposed third terminal would take that to 40 million passengers.
In November, Don Mueang Terminal 1 would become the base for all international flights while the renovated Terminal 2 would become the domestic facility. Third-phase development would include another domestic terminal as well as a warehouse and an aircraft-maintenance facility, Mr Nitinai said.
AoT is inviting private-sector firms to join in the third-phase project. The airport operator said it could either do all the expansion itself and let an airline partner run the terminal, or airlines could bid on both the renovation and operation.
Mr Nitinai said Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways International, is interested in both.