The Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced an ambitious plan to invest Bt36 billion to build airport cities in Bangkok and Phuket, its president Makin Petplai said today.
He said AoT will apply the management system of Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok international airport to develop three major airports – Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang in Bangkok, and Phuket.
Airport cities will cater to three categories of people: tourists, regular passengers and business travellers, he said.
Total investment for the three projects will cost the AoT Bt36 billion with a target to service 100 million travellers in 2016, said Mr Makin.
He said the airport city development in Bangkok will be in conjunction with the launch of the electric mass transit rail services Red and Green Lines while the construction of Phuket airport city will take three years.
AoT will invest about Bt10 billion to construct monorails to connect Bangkok’s two airports with the electric train on the Red and Green Lines, and the airports’ departure, arrival and cargo terminals will be renovated, he said.
In addition to the second phase of Suvarnabhumi airport development costing Bt62.5 billion, AoT also plans to improve areas surrounding the airport including 37 plots of land in order to generate more income, he said.
The AoT president said renovation of Suvarnabhumi airport will cost Bt6 billion while the airport city will stretch to a five-km radius around the airport.
