Airports of Thailand (AoT) announced that the third runway at Suvarnabhumi Airport will be ready for operation by the end of the year, increasing the airport’s aircraft handling capacity from 68 to 94 planes per hour.
On Thursday, a comprehensive trial run of the new runway was conducted, involving key participants such as Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai), Thai Airways International, and Bangkok Flight Services.
Kittipong Kittikachorn, the airport’s general manager, confirmed that a civilian aircraft successfully completed both takeoff and landing during the trial of the new runway.
The focus of the trial was on evaluating the physical attributes of the runway, such as taxiways and associated equipment, as well as its overall safety, according to Mr. Kittipong.
On August 14, prior to this trial, the Royal Thai Air Force conducted a similar test using its ATR-72 aircraft, which Mr. Kittipong also declared successful.
After the trial on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and other relevant agencies provided feedback to representatives from Suvarnabhumi Airport on enhancements needed before the official inauguration of the runway.
Mr. Kittipong noted that the new runway would elevate the airport’s capacity for handling flights from 68 to 94 per hour, aligning it with other top airports in the region.
Additionally, AoT director Kirati Kijmanawat reported that the organization recorded a net profit of 14.9 billion baht in the first nine months of the fiscal year, which ended on June 30.
This marked a 178% increase from 5.36 billion baht during the same period last year, a time when international travel was considerably lower.
The company’s revenue stood at 50.76 billion baht, reflecting a 53.3% rise year-over-year, while operational expenses increased by 23.6% to 29.5 billion, according to Mr. Kirati.
This financial uplift coincides with the rise in traffic across all six airports managed by the SET-listed AoT, which together accommodated 90 million passengers, showing a 21.2% increase from the previous year.
