Phuket To Get Second Airport Runway

[george]

Phuket resort island to get second airport runway

BANGKOK: -- A second runway is to be built at the airport on Thailand's resort island of Phuket to handle the growing number of tourists flying to the premier destination, the island's governor said Monday.

Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura said Phuket had the second busiest airport after Bangkok but only one runway to deal with about 40 flights a day.

"Aviation is growing here. There are many airlines flying to Phuket and there will be more low-cost carriers operating flights to the Island," he told AFP.

Udomsak said Airports of Thailand (AOT) had also agreed to spend another 154 million baht (3.77 million dollars) on expanding the airport's cargo facilities and passenger lounge but had not yet formulated a cost for the second runway.

He said that the AOT, which operates the airport, decided to build the new runway after completing a series of ground tests aimed at extending the current three kilometre (two mile) strip.

"The tests found that the extension would cost more than building the second runway," Udomsak said.

The governor acknowledged that unrest in Thailand's Muslim-majority region, well south of Phuket, has had an impact on tourism -- the cornerstone of the local economy -- but that the industry was still healthy.

Despite the southern violence which has left more than 200 people dead this year and the impact of bird flu, Thailand has said that it is still aiming to attract a record 12 million tourists in 2004.

No-frills carrier AirAsia began flights to Phuket from Malaysia last December, with the goal of bringing some 10,000 passengers to the island every month.

--AFP 2004-06-21

[fatter than harry]

There appears to be some fringe benefits afterall to Peerless Bleeder's ownership of Air Asia / being Prime Minister.

[george]

No second runway ‘in near future’

PHUKET: -- Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, has denied reports in national newspapers that Phuket International Airport is to get a second runway in the near future.

Cdr Boonchart told the Gazette today that there are no plans for a second runway but that the existing runway will be extended from its current 3,000 meters to 3,300 meters to allow fully-laden Boeing 747s to take off, which is not possible at present.

He added, “There is provision in our long-term master plan for the construction of another runway 3,600 meters long, but if and when that is built, the existing runway would be used as a taxiway.

“I don’t believe [a new] runway will be built in the near future because Phuket has no direct flights to America.

“We will have to look at the situation after we extend the [present] runway to 3,300 meters. If the time does come [when we decide we need another runway] we would have to buy more land because we have none to spare now.”

Construction of the extension to the existing runway will be completed by the end of next year, Cdr Boonchart added.

--Phuket Gazette 2004-06-23

[simon43]

Hmm, 40 flights per day. I imagine they only fly between about 7am and 9pm = 14 hours per day. So that makes 1 flight every 21 minutes. And they need a second runway!!

I stick with the extension to the existing runway so that they can take the fully-loaded 747s. But they can only extend the runway so far because of the main road to Phang Nga at the end of this runway! Should add fun to the state of the driving

OT slightly, but I used to live in Antwerp. The airport runway is VERY short and there is a main road at one end. They used to have to stop all cars when a plane landed or took off, just in case it clipped the roofs of the vehicles...and when a plane lands, the pilot must slam his breaks on real hard to avoid hitting the beer bar that is located on the tarmac at the other end of the runway

[astral]

That would never do.

They would then have more runways than the new Cobra Swamp setup!!