Thailand to spend 5.7 billion USD upgrading six airports
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