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.