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Don Mueang to Increase Capacity to 27m by 2016
14th Mar 2013
When the improvements to old Don Mueang Airport's Terminal 2 is completed, it is expected to handle 27.5 million passengers by 2016, this according to Airports of Thailand authority.
Paranee Vatanotai, the General Manager of Don Mueang Airport claimed that the airport, which plays a major role in easing the traffic at the newer Suvarnabhumi Airport, is seen to benefit largely by the improvement of its Terminal 2 with its increased handling capacity as it would be able to service the growing passenger traffic into and out of Bangkok.
The improvement project shall start this year and its target completion date is 2016. The airport's Terminal 1 is the only functional terminal currently serving most of the domestic and international low-cost carriers.
Except for Siam GA, which is a full-service airline, most other airlines operating at the airport are budget carriers which moved their base from Suvarnabhumi Airport after the government enticed them of incentives such as lower airport tax. These airlines include AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Nok Air, One-Two-Go, Orient Thai and Thai AirAsia.
Don Mueang Airport has been in operation for 99 years since it officially opened on March 1914, making it the oldest aerodrome in Thailand.
According to airport data, it already handled about 6 million passengers in the last five months ending March 2013. While its fiscal year starts on October 2012, the AoT official, nonetheless, is brimming with confidence that the traffic will skyrocket to 10 million passengers before the year ends.
Don Mueang Airport has been stripped off of its role as the country's main international gateway following the opening of the ultra-modern Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006. Once, it was closed to traffic after a massive flooding in the capital but recently reopened when the new airport has been operating above its capacity.
The government ordered the reopening of the old airport to ease congestion at the Suvarnabhumi Airport by dangling juicy offers to lure budget carriers, domestic and international, to operate at the old airport.
The operations of two airports serving the capital is part of the country's vision to intensify their effort to turn Thailand into a commercial aviation hub in the region. The two airports shall be able to handle 87.5 million travelers by 2016.
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