Suvarnabhumi To Expand As A Single Package Project

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Suvarnabhumi to expand as a single package project

Serirat: No piecemeal expansion for Suvarnabhumi

BANGKOK: -- The head of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) says the Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion will proceed as a single undertaking rather than being split into several parts as suggested recently by its new chairman.

The expansion needs to proceed without delay as the airport is operating near its capacity, according to Mr Serirat. The project includes the construction of a third runway, 60 metres in width and 4,000 metres in length, and a mid-field terminal that will increase passenger handling capacity to 60 million from 45 million.

"The second-phase development will proceed as a package and not in pieces," AoT acting president Serirat Prasutanond said in response to the suggestion of dividing the project into sub-phases to relieve AoT of financial constraints.

Financing of the project, which costs 78 billion baht, should not be a problem as AoT has its own equity and borrowing capability. The project will raise the capacity of Thailand's gateway airport by 33%.

The new AoT chairman, Piyaphan Champasut, said recently that the tempo of investment in the expansion project may need to match the current poor economic environment.

AoT may carry out the expansion in phases of priority and readiness, rather than implementing the project in full, though he stressed a commitment to proceed with the scheme.

Mr Serirat reiterated the need for the expansion to proceed without delay to cope with the future increase in traffic demand as the airport is operating near its capacity.

The 2009 projection is for Suvarnabhumi, which opened in September 2006, to handle 42 million passengers.

He reaffirmed last week to an international air cargo conference that the expansion would run from 2009 to 2014.

The project includes the construction of a third runway, 60 metres in width and 4,000 metres in length, and a mid-field terminal that will increase passenger handling capacity to 60 million from 45 million.

The expanded capacity should be able to cope with demand until 2018, he said.

Serirat: B78bn financing no problem

However, the expansion plan still needs to pass through the bureaucratic system, even though the entire plan was approved last December by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

Construction of the third runway is subject to an environmental impact assessment study while the mid-field terminal is being screened by a government logistics planning body.

In another development, Mr Serirat pledged to offer more relief to those businesses built around AoT airports to weather the economic storm. This is in addition to the recently announced 20% reduction in landing fees and parking fee waivers for aircraft on the ground less than 24 hours, effective from Feb 1 to Sept 30.

Others ideas in the pipeline are:

- Reducing other airline expenses such as space rentals, extending due date payments, increasing the length of time for additional minimum guarantees and revenue-sharing rates.

- Reviewing the service fees of power suppliers and air-conditioning for aircraft by equalising the rates between Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.

- Managing terminal spaces and aircraft bays on a fair and transparent basis in order to ensure that all airlines are equally treated.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-03-09