Khon Kaen Airport terminal is expected to deal with five million people a year, starting next month, after its development is completed, deputy authorities spokeswoman Tipanan Sirichana said yesterday.
Prime Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) Prayut Chan-o-cha has expedited airport expansion nationwide in a bet to accommodate the increasing number of travellers plus consolidate Thailand’s position as a regional centre for aviation plus tourism.
Ms Tipanan said the expansion of Khon Kaen airport is part of the eight-year national strategy to enhance the Thai transport network, including renovation plus construction of car parking buildings and passenger terminals under a 2-billion-baht budget cleared by the cabinet in 2017. The car park is going to be raised from 5 to seven floors to accommodate up to one, 160 cars.
The work is set to be completed with the two airport terminal buildings newly linked by the end of the month.
The newest building will cover 28, 000 square metres (m²), and the current building will be expanded to 16, 500 m².
“That means the airport will be able to handle 2, 000 people per hour or five million per year, ” she said.
Khon Kaen Airport’s Facebook web page reported passenger volume at the airport a year ago totalled 1 . 4 million aboard some 10, 000 flights, increases of 150% and 123%, respectively, compared with the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Saksayam Chidchob said a total of 4. 66 mil people had moved into the country in January, with 3. one million of them moving through Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal.
By far, the most popular method of transportation was air (96. 52%), followed by sea (1. 97%), land (1. 20%) and railway (0. 31%), Mr Saksayam said.