The new chairman of Airports of Thailand (AoT), Police General Visanu Prasattongosoth, announced an ambitious plan to elevate Suvarnabhumi International Airport into the top 50 global airports within the next two years. The strategy is part of AoT’s broader initiative to upgrade and expand the capacities of six airports under its jurisdiction, in response to the anticipated global resurgence of air travel in the post-Covid-19 era. AoT is committed to expediting the progress of six expansion projects -- Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang, Hat Yai and Phuket international airports --over the next five years.
AoT’s urgent plans for 2024 include improving physical spaces and airport facility management systems at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang in line with the government's policy to attract foreign visitors and investors. AoT estimates that fiscal year 2024, October 2023 to September 2024, will witness at least 130 million individual passengers passing through the current six airports under the supervision of the agency. This project indicates a return to passenger levels seen in 2019 before the Covid emergency.
Concurrently, aligning with AoT’s aspirations, eight new airlines are set to commence operations in 2024. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, Really Cool Airlines is one of the airlines that has received operator licenses from Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit. Other airlines planning to launch operations in 2024 include Pattaya Airways, Asian Aerospace Service, Avanti Air Charter, Siam Seaplane and Asia Atlantic Airlines. The carriers have also been permitted to import a total of 60 aircraft.
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