Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, and the Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) are aiming high. By 2021, three major airports, namely Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and U-Tapao will have a collective capacity to handle up to 200 million passengers a year.
That goal can be reached when each airport development plan is complete, Mr Arkhom said.
The minister shared his vision, or ambition, with participants at the 22nd annual Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso) Global Air Traffic Management summit earlier this week. However, he stopped short of providing detailed development plans for the three airports.
According to the AoT, the current plans are for Don Mueang to accommodate 70 million passengers a year when the third terminal opens in 2021. Suvarnabhumi's capacity will reach 60 million when its second phase of development wraps up by the middle of 2020 while U-Tapao will hit a capacity of 3 million in January.
The AoT said in April a new international passenger terminal will be constructed at Don Mueang to accommodate the soaring passenger numbers. The new third terminal is scheduled to open in 2021 to replace the old, unused terminal that was decommissioned in 2006 when Suvarnabhumi was due to be opened. Terminal 3 alone, said the AoT, will be able to take in 40 million passengers a year.
Suvarnabhumi is also scheduled to go through its second phase of expansion and development. The 62.5-billion-baht revamp will involve building a secondary concourse, an aircraft parking lot and a tunnel linking the main passenger terminal to the concourse using an automated people mover, or short electric train network.
The second phase is expected to be concluded by mid-2020 after a slight delay. The airport has a total of four development phases which, according to Mr Arkhom, will see capacity increase to 90 million passengers, a jump from last year's number of 60 million which exceeded its stated capacity of 45 million.
Without doubt, the minister is flashing his ambitions in revealing such a vision. In planning to have Don Mueang accommodate 70 million passengers, the airport will be on par with, or higher than, some international airports in Europe and the US.
Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, for example, accommodates 69 million passengers while Amsterdam's Schipol can handle 68 million, London's Heathrow has a maximum capacity of 78 million and JFK airport in New York receives 59 million passengers a year.
To enable an airport to receive such a high number of passengers requires more than a terminal, no matter how advanced it is or what upgrades it has received. It needs other services and infrastructures to grow in this way. It also involves the work of non-airport officials such as immigration officers.
The minister must be aware that the world's advanced airports provide public transportation, especially sophisticated rail and bus networks, that enable passengers to get to nearby towns or connect to other cities painlessly.
Suvarnabhumi, which last year saw passengers exceed its stated capacity, simply does not have that -- at least not yet. Don Mueang is even worse. The only rail system that links Suvarnabhumi to inner Bangkok is the Airport Rail Link operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) -- a state enterprise known mostly for its lack of efficiency. Despite its huge potential as a mass-transit system, the link has become a nightmare due to its substandard service.
A large number of passengers using both Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang have to depend on taxis and brace for encumbrances like long queues or the prospect of being ripped off. There are many media reports about taxi drivers who still refuse to turn on their meters.
While the government may be planning to have the Red Line completed in 2020 so it will link Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao, the fact that the network will be run by the SRT does not exactly inspire much hope.