AOT’s “Nitinai” Reaffirms Continuation of “Master Plan,” Terminal 2 to Solve Congestion
AOT has reaffirmed that the company will not go off the track on the Master Plan, but currently, the main problem in the airport is the max capacity of the passengers, projected to grow dramatically. Which is why the construction of Terminal 2 is very important.
Mr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT), has made a statement through the broadcast of “Kaohoon Live” on Facebook, YouTube and FM 102 MHz., regarding the process of construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s Terminal 2 (Terminal 2) that is currently being held off as the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) indicates that AOT should follow the Airport Development Master Plan Year 2003 instead of processing Terminal 2, which is not listed in the Master Plan.
Mr. Nitinai asserts that the purpose of constructing Terminal 2 is to reduce congestion in the only one existing terminal while forecasting that the number of passengers in 2019 will reach 70 million people, which is above Suvarnabhumi Airport’s 45 million people capacity. If AOT is to follow the Master Plan, those in trouble would be passengers in the airport.
While the number of passengers in the airside, the area beyond security or passport control, has not reached its capacity, but the landside, the area accessible to the general public, including those not traveling, is maxed out.
The company will nevertheless continue the Master Plan as planned without going off the track. However, the expansion in the Master Plan needs construction in a sequence from the northern area to the southern area, which will consist of only one landside at the end of the project in the southern area. While the whole process will take time before completion, the landside that is currently at full capacity in the only existing terminal cannot contain a constant increase of passengers.
AOT will put together all the details regarding the matter and present it to the Board of Directors for consideration on February 20, 2019, and will move on to present it to NESDC, which the company will comply to the resolution accordingly.