Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced plans to expand its six international airports to accommodate up to 210 million passengers by 2032.
On Friday, AoT director Kerati Kijmanawat presented the Ministry of Transport’s strategic plan for 2023-2027, which seeks to establish Thailand as a regional aviation hub.
As part of this initiative, Suvarnabhumi International Airport is projected to handle 120 million passengers by 2030. Don Mueang International Airport expects to reach 40 million passengers in the same year, while Chiang Mai International Airport aims for a capacity of 20 million passengers by 2032. Additionally, Phuket International Airport plans to serve 18 million passengers by 2028, and both Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai International Airport and Krabi International Airport are projected to accommodate 6 million passengers each by 2032.
Mr. Kerati mentioned that although Suvarnabhumi Airport was once ranked among the top 10 airports worldwide, its position has fallen, with Skytrax currently ranking it 58th this year. This decline is attributed to insufficient facilities compared to airports in Singapore, Tokyo, Istanbul, and Paris.
AoT’s goal is to restore Suvarnabhumi to the top 20 best airports globally. The plan is divided into three phases: the first phase (2025-2027) focuses on enhancing the airport’s efficiency; the second phase (2028-2032) aims to establish Suvarnabhumi as a leader in airport services; and the third phase (by 2037) targets a position among the top global airport operators.
To achieve this, AoT intends to invest in new technology to expedite international passenger processing, reducing arrival times from 30 minutes to 25 minutes (a 17% improvement) and departure times from 45 minutes to 30 minutes (a 33% reduction).
Mr. Kerati also revealed that construction of the new South Terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport will proceed as per the master plan with a budget of 120 billion baht. The design phase will take approximately 14 months, followed by construction starting in early 2027, projected to take four and a half years. The new terminal aims to accommodate 70 million passengers and improve access from the south via Bang Na-Trat Road while connecting to the Bang Na-Chon Buri Expressway for better convenience.
Additionally, a fourth runway will be built on the eastern side of the airport, with a design timeline of about 10 months. Bidding for the construction is anticipated to begin in early 2027. Mr. Kerati noted that AoT will also propose plans to expand both the East Terminal and West Terminal to facilitate increased passenger capacity in the future.
