AirAsia,
the no-frills airline group is urging Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT)
to renovate Terminal 2 at Don Mueang airport in parallel with work
being done at Terminal 1 to deal with traffic that will quickly build
up.
Tassapon
Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, a sister airline of
Asia's largest low-cost carrier, advocates such a move, saying he
expects T1's traffic to reach capacity in 12-18 months after it
becomes fully operational on Oct 1.
"Don't
wait. It's better to have the capacity available ahead of time rather
than trying to catch up with traffic demand later on," he said.
Mr
Tassapon was commenting on the state-controlled airport authority's
plan to revive T2 only after T1 is used to capacity to avoid what AoT
now perceives as a premature investment.
After
renovation, T2 will be able to handle 22.5 million passengers a year
_ the capacity that was available when Bangkok's old airport was
closed upon the opening of Suvarnabhumi in September 2006.
Mr
Tassapon said the AirAsia group will shift its base from Suvarnabhumi
to Don Mueang on Oct 1, generating traffic of as many as 10 million
passengers in the first year at its new home.
AirAsia
expects traffic through Don Mueang to soar to 14 million passengers a
year over the next four years, pointing to a need for additional
terminal capacity.
Meanwhile,
Mr Tassapon expressed his improved confidence that Don Mueang will be
ready as a fully functional airport by Oct 1.
Source: Bangkok
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