Thailand to spend 5.7 billion USD upgrading six airports hinh anh 1A photo of Suvarnabhumi Airport. (Photo: King Power)

Bangkok (VNA) – The Airports of Thailand (AOT) has devised a 10-year plan to upgrade six major airports in the country with a total investment of 200 billion THB (5.7 billion USD), Thai media on February 20 quoted AOT President Nitinai Sirismatthakarn as saying.

Half of the sum will be used to upgrade the Suvarnabhumi Airport to enable it to serve up to 200 million passengers compared to the current capacity of 83.5 million. On February 10, the airport set a record of receiving 196,293 passengers in one day.

Six airports under the management of the AOT include Don Muang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Chiang Rai and Suvarnabhumi.

Thailand’s tourism sector was affected in the last quarter of 2016, as the country stopped its cheap travel packages, resulting in a decline in visitors from China, Thailand’s largest market.

From July to September last year, tourist arrivals to Thailand fell from 8.2 million to 7.8 million.-VNA

VNA