Airports of Thailand (AOT) plans to upgrade the facilities of Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakan province to accommodate 80 million passengers a year by 2031.
AOT president Kerati Kijmanawat on Wednesday said the agency is reviewing its master plan for expanding the airport's capacity over a 10-year period to meet the government's goal of having the airport rank among the top 20 in the world within five years.
Under the master plan, a new passenger terminal called South Terminal will be built on the southern side of the airport at an estimated cost of 120 billion baht.
The airport's fourth runway will be built for 20 billion baht.
With these two new elements, the airport will be able to handle about 80 million passengers per year, he said, adding the South Terminal will likely require 14 months to complete while Runway 4 will need about 10 months.
He said the master plan review will be finished by February, adding AOT will forward the plan to the Transport Ministry to submit it to the cabinet for budget approval, which is estimated to require at least another three months.
The bidding for construction of the projects will likely come by early 2027, he said.
He said the South Terminal is estimated to require four-and-a-half years to build, while Runway 4 should be built in around four years.
The new terminal will likely open by late 2031, while the fourth runway will likely be inaugurated a year earlier.
Mr Kerati said Suvarnabhumi's development plan is required because its existing main terminal is overcrowded.
In addition, the areas for dropping off and picking up passengers are now overly congested as the space is only 400 metres long, he said.
When the southern terminal is built, more dropping off and picking up space, about 2 kilometres long, will be added.
He said the temporary parking space would be designed in a U-shape to improve passenger drop-offs and pick-ups.
Shops will also be added to the U-shaped space for those who arrive at the terminal early and want to spend some time there before their flights, he added.