Thailand: Suvarnabhumi gears up for more expansion

Airports of Thailand expects to call bidding to upgrade Suvarnabhumi Airport under its third phase of development next year, with the aim of relieving overcrowding of passengers with a new passenger terminal and runway. The move follows phase two of the airport's expansion in which projects are being auctioned as authorities race against time to cope with the soaring number of air travellers, AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said. Currently, authorities are working on two things to pave the way for phase three of the development project. They are preparing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) reports, required by law, as well as drafting the terms of reference to hire designers for the new facilities. The latter is expected to be completed first, allowing the AoT to start the bidding within one and two months of its completion, Nitinai said. The AoT should be ready to call bids in Q4 next year or no later than Q1 the following year. <br/>