Thailand to Upgrade Air Traffic Control

18th Jan 2017

As the number of flights handled at Thailand’s national airport are reaching critical limit and are technically already beyond capacity, the country is preparing to upgrade its aviation system to better handle the ever growing air traffic.

In regard of this, the upgraded aviation system will allow Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (ART) to serve more flights and better direct air traffic.

Last year, airports in Thailand served over 900,000 flights or 9-10% in average. This number is already beyond the technical capacity of the ART’s current aviation system, which is designed for 800,000 flights per year. This exceeded the growth of the Asia and Pacific regions, which came between 6 and 7 per cent, or the yearly global growth rate of 4.6%.

However, according to the Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, the situation is still “manageable”, but is in need of a change.

The new system will enable ART to serve up to 1.5 million flights per year, which is an estimate of flights in 2021, according to Minister Arkhom, and will kick off at the latest early the following year.

Furthermore, according to Mr. Arkhom, he expects Thailand’s airports will have to handle up to two million flights by 2027, which is why, he pointed out, and the country can’t stop developing its aviation traffic system. As the Transport Minister said, the country must be able to handle two million flights per year in the next 10 years.

For instance, Mr. Arkhom pointed out, Suvarnabhumi Airport has a greater area than London’s Heathrow Airport, but Heathrow can serve more flights (about two million).

Concerning this, the Thai Transport Ministry will implement a five-year plan between 2017 and 2021, investing 14.4 billion baht in upgrading its aviation traffic control system.

Sarinee Saangprasit, President of ART said the agency is getting help from the Aeronautical Information Service from the United Kingdom to develop a plan to improve Thailand’s aviation management, including increasing flight handling capacity of its airports and improving aviation traffic control management.

ART, which is a state owned company, is planning to install the Thailand Modernization CNS/ATM (TMCA system to improve the way it manages air traffic.

Related Airports

• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

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