The Transport Ministry and the Thai Royal Navy are set to sign an agreement in late May 2015 to approve a series of improvement works for U-Tapao International Airport in Thailand, according to a report by the Bangkok Post.
Prajin Juntong, transport minister for Thailand, made the announcement yesterday (April 30) where he also gave further details of the project. U-Tapao is currently a joint civil-military airport but the expansion plans will further commercialize the airport, expanding the main terminal’s capacity from 800,000 to three million passengers annually. Further development works will then take place in 2018 to accommodate five million travelers by 2020.
Despite the move to turn U-Tapao into a fully commercial airport, Juntong said the navy insisted on full control of the airport, including air traffic management, but the navy could seek assistance from Thai Airways International or Airports of Thailand to handle ground services in the event of increasing flights and passengers.
To read more from the report by the Bangkok Post click here.