Airports of Thailand (AOT) plans to inject Bt5 billion to expand Phuket Airport's capacity to 11.5 million passengers by 2016, a 77-per-cent increase.

The announcement was made on May 23 by Deputy Transport Minister Songsak Thongsri, who joined Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Rathasima, airport director Wicha Nernlop in a meeting and inspection of the airport.

6 million passengers this year

In 2007, Phuket Airport had some 38,368 flights, a 32-per-cent rise from 2006, with 5.47 million passengers - 23 per cent over the previous year. The sharp rise is attributed to the growing popularity of low-cost carriers.

This year, the AOT expects the airport to accommodate 41,000 flights and about 6 million passengers.

Following the Bt516-million expansion of the international terminal last year, the airport can now handle up to 6.5 million passengers per year. The Bt5-billion in funding will cover development for 2009-2011, said Songsak.

Short runway still a problem

Beyond that, AOT will need to provide more funding in order for the airport to be able to welcome 15 million visitors by 2020, he said.

The 2009-2011 budget will cover the construction of more taxiways, parking bays for aircraft, a new international passenger terminal, conversion of the existing terminal into a domestic terminal, a new cargo building, new roads and airline offices.

However, the two-year plan does not address the airport's main limiting factor: its single 3,000-metre runway can only accommodate 20 flights an hour and is too short to allow for safe takeoff of fully-laden jumbo jets or Airbus 380s.