New Krabi Airport Terminal to aid Thai tourism recovery in October

According to the Department of Airports (DoA), Thailand, a third terminal is currently in the midst of Krabi Airport’s construction. The terminal will open by October. It will double the airport’s passenger handling capacity.

Somkiat Maneesathit, DoA deputy director-general, went on an inspection tour of the airport on Thursday. He was briefed on various construction projects there.

He inspected a newly-built airport apron equipped with a lighting system. The construction of the structure was completed on Jan 21.

The DoA deputy chief also monitored the progress of the construction of a new runway. The cost of the new runway is 941.9 million baht. The construction contract runs from Oct 29 last year to April 16, 2023.

Once completed, the new runway can accommodate 24 aircraft per hour. This amount would significantly increase the current capacity of eight aircraft per hour, according to the department.

Also under construction is the third terminal building at Krabi Airport. Secondly, the DOA is upgrading the first and second terminal buildings. Lastly, they are also building as a car park building. The total costs of these projects are around 2.9 billion baht.

Third Krabi Airport Terminal will double its capacity

The third terminal is likely to be up and running this October. This date of completion means the third terminal opens in time to recover the travel and tourism sectors affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the start of the high tourism season.

The terminal will double the airport’s current handling capacity of 1,500 people per hour or 4 million people per year.

The new car park building will also have space for up to 2,700 vehicles.

The DoA last week said domestic flights are currently operating at airports in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Surat Thani, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Trang, Phitsanulok, Sakon Nakhon, Lampang, Nan Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Buri Ram and Mae Sot.

The department was confident the local aviation industry would continue its recovery over the next six months, especially with the national vaccination programme speeding up the recovery process.

Currently, there are now about 120 round-trip flights operating per day from airports across the kingdom. This amount was double the number during the industry’s lowest point last year.

The number of passengers on domestic flights each day had risen to 30,000–40,000 before the second wave of Covid-19 hit in mid-December. This amount was equal to about 80% of the usual number before the pandemic, the department said.