THE overcrowded Phuket International Airport will soon be granted a breather, thanks to Airports of Thailand’s endorsement last week of a 145 million baht (US$4.6 million) budget to construct a temporary airport terminal.
According to the Bangkok Post, the terminal is a stopgap measure to deal with the severe space crunch at the airport before its main expansion wraps up in 2015, and will add room for an extra three million passengers a year.
Located away from the existing terminal, the temporary facility is expected to be completed in December, equipped with 10 check-in counters and receive passengers on international charter flights.
Phuket International Airport, whose traffic volume is expected to hit 10.5 million in 2013, was built to handle 6.5 million passengers annually, said the Bangkok Post.
The ongoing main expansion will increase Phuket’s annual passenger handling to 12.5 million, and the Airports of Thailand board is presently mulling the construction of a second runway to meet future demand growth.
