Thailand's Tourist Boom Puts a Strain on Its Airports
- Tourism boom contributing to congestion at country’s terminals
- Airports of Thailand to pour billions of dollars into upgrades
Inside Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Thailand’s tourism bounty comes with a big challenge for the head of state-run Airports of Thailand Pcl: expanding passenger capacity in Bangkok by about the size of South Korea’s population.
The company is planning for 90 million passengers annually at the city’s main Suvarnabhumi Airport by 2022 and 40 million at Bangkok’s low-cost hub Don Mueang International Airport, up from the present combined capacity of 75 million, President Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said. The firm operates four other airports, including in tourism hot-spot Phuket.