Three provincial airports — Buriram, Surat Thani and Krabi — will be upgraded next year under a combined budget of 11.3 billion baht.
A 700-million-baht second passenger terminal will be built at Buriram airport in the Northeast to serve more tourists, promote sports tourism and support its international-airport upgrade plan, a source at the Airports Department said.
The province is home to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob and the Buriram United football team. It has the Chang Arena and i-mobile football stadiums, Chang International Circuit racing track and e-sport arena.
The new terminal will more than double the airport’s capacity to 1.7 million passengers a year from 750,000 now.
Surat Thani airport will also be upgraded to support booming southern tourism. The expansion will accommodate 3.6 million passengers a year from 2 million today.
As well, Krabi airport will be expanded to double its capacity to 8 million passengers a year.
The department is working on a plan to boost commercial revenue at 28 airports under its supervision, aiming to increase its annual income by 143 million baht, the source added.
Shop and commercial space rentals at the airports will be raised, but not passenger service charges to avoid adding people’s burden. Land and parking fees are also under review as the department fears raising them would result in higher fares.