Opening of Suvarnabhumi’s new terminal postponed to Oct 2022
The Airports of Thailand (AOT) is planning to postpone the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s Satellite Terminal 1 (SAT 1) by six months from April to October next year.
AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said the company will provide Suvarnabhumi Airport’s passenger traffic and expense forecast at the next board meeting, so directors can consider the opening of SAT 1 by next October.
He said the terminal is fully built, but its system needs to be tested further as the number of passengers is still low.
“The airport’s expenses will hit 1 billion baht within three months once SAT 1 opens as its monthly operation costs stand at about 336 million baht,” he said. “Meanwhile, there are 40 or 50 aircraft parked near the new terminal as the tourism industry has not recovered yet.”
He said when SAT 1 opens next year, the aircraft parked nearby can be moved to the taxiway of the third runway, which should be built by then.
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The number of passengers at AOT’s six airports dropped sharply due to the government’s travel restrictions over the past couple of years. For instance, August this year saw only 4,800 passengers or just 46 passengers daily.
Now that the government has lifted travel restrictions, the number of daily travellers has risen to between 10,000 and 15,000, a number that is expected to rise further.