Writer: BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Published: 2/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
Work is finally under way to upgrade U-tapao, the Navy-operated airport that played a vital role in ferrying home 100,000 passengers stranded by the Bangkok airport blockades late last year.
The U-tapao tarmac was packed with planes during the Bangkok airport seizure late last year. The new passenger terminal will be nearly four times the size of the existing one and capable of handling 1,500 passengers per hour, compared to 400 now.
The Royal Thai Navy has a budget of 995 million baht for the expansion that includes building a new passenger terminal, improving taxiways, fuel depots, firefighting systems, X-ray machines, cargo units and other facilities.
The upgrade had been planned for years but only approved recently as the government saw an urgent need to have an alternate airport in case of emergency shutdowns of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.
Protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) threw aviation and tourism into chaos in late November last year when they seized the two Bangkok airports for eight days.
The scale of the upgrade of U-tapao, located 190 km southeast of Bangkok in an area bordering Chon Buri’s Sattahip district and Rayong’s Ban Chang district, will be modest. But it is considered adequate for emergency use.
The new passenger terminal will be nearly four times the size of the existing one and capable of handling 1,500 passengers per hour, compared to 400 now.
The new terminal deals with the most significant bottleneck at U-tapao, which was stretched well beyond its limit when thousands of fleeing passengers scrambled to get flights out of Thailand during the PAD protests.
U-tapao’s runway is 3,505 metres long and 60 metres wide, with an apron capable of parking 49 aircraft, considered adequate for use in a crisis.
The airport is still home of the Royal Thai Navy First Air Wing and during the Vietnam War it was a frontline base for B-52 Stratofortress bombers of the United States Air Force.
According to Rear Adm Surapong Ayasanond, the U-tapao deputy director, the new two-storey terminal will be modelled on that of Phitsanulok Airport and will handle both domestic and international passengers.
The existing single-storey terminal, covering 2,610 square metres, will be used for military, VIP and private planes. It has been largely unused since the two Bangkok airports resumed operations.
U-tapao now serves a few domestic scheduled flights per day, mainly Bangkok Airways’ ATR-72 turboprops between U-tapao and Samui and Phuket, in addition to a small number of chartered flights from Russia.
The Navy’s Civil Engineering Department is now designing the new terminal and tenders are expected to be called in the first quarter of next year.
“Toward the end of next year, the upgrade should be up and running.
That’s the mandate given to us,” said Rear Adm Surapong.
Aside from serving as an alternate to Suvarnabhumi, U-tapao will be used as a gateway to Pattaya, 23 km away, bringing international passengers directly to the resort, bypassing Suvarnabhumi.
It will be renamed U-tapao Pattaya International Airport to link its identity with the resort city and promote its tourism industry. Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Khunplome was recently named to the U-tapao’s board.
*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *