Terminal 2 at Don Mueang ready by August

Terminal 2 at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport should be ready for commercial operation in seven months following its renovation.

“From the progress we have observed so far, we are confident the terminal should be up and running by August,” said Nirandra Theeranatsin, acting president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).

The terminal, which will raise the airport’s annual passenger-handling capacity by 62% from 30 million now, should be ready for a test run in June, he added.

Contractors and suppliers for the work have also offered assurances that they will meet contractual deadlines, said Mr Nirandra.

The cost of renovation, involving 60-70 contracts for more than 20 categories of work, will be held to about B2 billion baht, lower than the 3 billion projected earlier.

The renovation is eight months behind the schedule of last December after works were found to be more complicated.

The derelict terminal was abandoned in 2006 but briefly used to shelter about 800 victims of 2011’s great flood.

The August launch is welcomed by airlines and travelling public because Terminal 1 traffic has surpassed capacity.

Last year, just under 21.6 million passengers passed through a terminal that was designed for a maximum of 18.5 million passengers.

The proliferation of low-cost carriers through Don Mueang, which serves as the country’s hub for budget airlines, has pushed passenger traffic through the limit.

Passenger volume surged 30.8% last year, while aircraft movements rose 19.4% to 172,681, according to AoT figures.

Continued double-digit growth in passenger traffic through Don Mueang is expected this year as no-frills carriers expand their activities and demand grows for budget travel.

Terminal 2 will be a modern-day passenger terminal with amenities that today’s passengers have come to expect.

It will be used for domestic passengers, while Terminal 1 will serve international travellers.

Terminal 1 will subsequently get a multi-billion-baht improvement.

Phuket News

 

 

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