Airports of Thailand to invest 37 billion baht in Don Mueang Airport

Airports of Thailand (AOT) is ready to invest US$1 billion (36.8 billion baht) to improve and expand the capacity of the low-cost terminal of Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, AOT announced yesterday.

AOT plans to increase capacity from 30 million to 40 million passengers per year by 2029, with construction beginning this year, according to a statement from AOT.

The project will “increase national income as a whole such as income from tourism, income from service sector related to tourism,” AOT said.

Once complete, the airport’s capacity will almost rival that of Suvarnabhumi Airport which can handle 45 million passengers per year.

Although, according to a government spokesperson, Suvarnabhumi is struggling to cope with the current influx of tourists – with 5.5 million foreign arrivals in Thailand in the first three months of the year.

Hopefully, AOT’s huge investment will improve the safety standards of construction work at Don Mueang Airport and avoid a recurrence of the Service Hall incident.

In April last year, the roof and walls of the newly built Service Hall at Don Mueang Airport collapsed after a storm. Luckily, due to the pandemic, the Service Hall wasn’t yet in use and tragedy was avoided. No injuries or deaths were reported.

Nearly one year after the incident, AOT concerningly said last month that no one was found to be responsible for the incident – which was blamed on “excessive rainfall.”

The dodgy Service Hall was built one year prior to its collapse for 102 million baht, but still couldn’t withhold Thailand’s rainy season.

AOT plans to add 12 aircraft parking stands and 11 jet bridges to Don Mueang, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, the Department of Airports (DOA) is spending 50 billion baht on the development of seven new regional airports in Thailand, in Nakhon Pathom, Bueng Khan, Mukdahan, Kalasin, Phayao, Phatthalung and Satun provinces.

Half of the budget, 25 billion, will be spent on the development of Nakhon Pathom Airport and the other half will go toward the other six airports.