BANGKOK, 28 August 2015 – An industrial estate dedicated to aircraft maintenance will be set up within 10 years under a 15 billion baht budget, with U-Tapao International Airport in Chonburi at its heart, according to the consensus at a seminar on the preliminary design of the industrial estate, held by the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, Ministry of Transport.
Representatives from relevant sectors who attended the seminar agreed with using U-Tapao Airport to service up to 45 aircraft at a time, and with the setting up of an aircraft parts manufacturing cluster spread around existing eastern seaboard industrial estates. The aircraft maintenance center at U-Tapao is set to be piloted during this year and next, whereas the parts manufacturing cluster will be developed later.
According to Minister of Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, the government has designated the development of the aviation industry as an urgent policy, and has been in support of enhancing aircraft maintenance capability and the improvement of air transportation services. He said the expected purchasing of some 12,000 commercial aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 20 years is believed to provide Thailand with the opportunity to rise as a center of aviation, aircraft maintenance and aircraft parts manufacturing.
