Thailand Unveils Ambitious Plan to Become Aviation Hub by 2030

[webfact]

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin unveiled an ambitious vision to transform Thailand into a regional aviation hub by 2030, under the initiative 'Ignite Thailand, Aviation Hub'. The plan seeks to address existing infrastructure issues while vastly expanding the nation's aviation capacity to attract more international flights and boost tourism.

 

Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which once ranked as the 13th best globally but has recently fallen to 68th, is at the centre of this grand vision. Despite Thailand's status as the world’s 24th largest economy, its air transport facilities have lagged behind regional competitors like Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Last year, Suvarnabhumi, built for a capacity of 45 million passengers, served 60 million, highlighting an urgent need for expansion.

 

The government has laid out a detailed roadmap to increase Suvarnabhumi’s capacity to 150 million passengers annually by 2030. The plans include opening a third runway by October 2024, increasing hourly flight capacities from 68 to 94. Additionally, a southern terminal will be built to add capacity for 60 million more passengers annually, and a fourth runway will aim to handle up to 120 flights per hour.

 

The Airports of Thailand (AOT) has already made strides in this direction, inaugurating the SAT-1 terminal last year, which raised the airport's capacity to 60 million passengers per year. The newly planned terminals and runways are designed to ensure that Suvarnabhumi can meet its 150 million passenger goal by 2030.

 

Further enhancements are planned to ease ground operations. The government aims to reduce immigration wait times within six months and introduce automated check-in and baggage systems. Additional ground service staff will be recruited, with a focus on performance indicators to ensure efficient service for tourists and locals.

 

Other airports in Thailand are also set to benefit from this aviation overhaul. Don Mueang International Airport will see improvements to boost its handling capacity from 30 million to 50 million passengers by 2030. Likewise, Andaman International Airport’s infrastructure will be upgraded to support tourism in Phuket, Phang Nga, and Krabi, targeting 40 million passengers.

 

In partnership with airlines like Bangkok Airways, Thai Vietjet, and AirAsia, Thailand has also set its sights on strengthening co-promotions with international airlines such as Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

 

Thai Airways plans to re-emerge as one of the world’s top carriers post-restructuring, aiming to rank among the top three in Asia

 

This comprehensive blueprint aims to position Suvarnabhumi among the top 50 global airports within a year and crack the top 20 within five years, turning Thailand into a formidable aviation hub in Southeast Asia by 2030.

 

File photo courtesy: Wikipedia

 

-- 2024-06-20

 

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[Georgealbert]

Yet another plan/hub which is high on aspirations and short in terms of details on addressing the key obstacles Thailand faces.

 

The Thai PM, first touted Thailand’s aviation hub dream in March this year, in a live TV broadcast, but is this really just pie in the sky?

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2024/03/02/thailand-faces-uphill-struggle-to-become-an-aviation-hub-after-2015-downgrade/

 

[hotchilli]

2030 if this is achieved Thailand will be the last place on earth to visit.

[jonclark]

Laat week it was a classic car hub...now its an aviation hub. 

Earlier in the year is was a wellness hub, and a medical hub, lasy year it was a connection hub,  a coffee hub, a food hub, a logistics hub, a distribution hub ....argh my head hurts.

 

Thailand; a Jack of all trades and master of none. 

 

 

[redwood1]

1 hour ago, jonclark said:

Laat week it was a classic car hub...now its an aviation hub. 

Earlier in the year is was a wellness hub, and a medical hub, lasy year it was a connection hub,  a coffee hub, a food hub, a logistics hub, a distribution hub ....argh my head hurts.

 

Thailand; a Jack of all trades and master of none. 

 

 

 

The only Hubs that Thailand is truely the king of is the hub of boom boom, the hub of cheap holidays, the hub of street food and the hub of making claim to be every hub under the sun....

[ChrisY1]

An old chestnut that keep surfacing every couple of years.....meaningless of course, but it does fill content space I guess!

[Grumpy one]

Another day another hub

[Spilornis]

Nothing wrong with trying to be a hub but look at all the places you could define as hubs and think about how they have become so. Short of being a natural destination (Heathrow, CDG etc) what makes them special.

In the case of the Middle Eastern hubs they established mega international airlines. Can Thailand do this? Maybe.. Singapore a much smaller country has but it has taken them 50 years of superior (expensive) performance.

Can it be like Schipol that is a world hub with a less than stellar national airline (KLM)?

Then there is the Air Asia play. How does this work if KL is a competing hub for Air Asia.

Finally how does Thailand deal with competing hubs in China and soon India.

Perhaps just start small and make the airport as welcoming as Changi and please never build a dysfunctional airport/shopping complex like KLIA2.

One way might be to make Bangkok the hub for a number of very fast trains to neighbouring countries. Probably way too expensive but imagine if Bangkok was connected by rail to Kolkata for instance

Edited June 20 by Spilornis

[dinsdale]

Fair chance by then Thailand will be ....

The Hub of Coup d'états.

Oh wait! It already is.

[petedk]

This was also proposed in 2015.

It gets mentioned every so often, but no progress is ever made.

[john donson]

hub hub hub

 

not enough tourists, too many tourists

 

loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[Captor]

3 hours ago, jonclark said:

Laat week it was a classic car hub...now its an aviation hub. 

Earlier in the year is was a wellness hub, and a medical hub, lasy year it was a connection hub,  a coffee hub, a food hub, a logistics hub, a distribution hub ....argh my head hurts.

 

Thailand; a Jack of all trades and master of none. 

 

 

Dont forget the hub of taxes!

[neeray]

All these Thai hubs must be great for employment: ** People to dream up the many hub ideas ** People to create the actual hub ** People to work in the hub ** People to explain why the hub idea didn't get off the ground, Being the hub of hubs presents endless opportunities, NEXT

[digger70]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

'Ignite Thailand, Aviation Hub'

An other Hub a hub a hubba. a hubba here a hubba there everywhere a hubba.  😇

[connda]

The promised "Bird-flu Pandemic" will drive a stake though the heart of Thai tourism as well as any plans to be the "hub" of anything.

[brianthainess]

[blazes]

No harm in a plan, I suppose.  The present PM will be long gone before the PM of the day has to explain why Thailand is not yet the hub of hubs....

[John Drake]

So two separate terminals miles apart? That's going to be like Kuala Lumpur where I've twice been dropped at the wrong terminal.

[WHansen]

555 they can't even get the E-gates operating correctly.

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

So two separate terminals miles apart? That's going to be like Kuala Lumpur where I've twice been dropped at the wrong terminal.

 

That's been part of the Suvarnabhumi master plan from the beginning - supposedly the two terminals will be linked by one or more rail lines.