The Transport Ministry has ordered the Department of Airports to speed up the construction of the new passenger terminal at Trang Airport, with the goal of it being in service by the end of next year.
Deputy Transport Minister Manaporn Charoensri issued the order on Monday in response to a petition filed by a civic group based in the southern province. The group urged the government to finish the construction of the 1.6-billion-baht terminal that was abandoned by its contractor about six months ago as it was nearing completion.
The new passenger terminal is part of a bigger project to upgrade the airport, which would also expand the runway and upgrade facilities.
The terminal is expected to handle 1,200 passengers per hour, or about 3.4 million people yearly. It will feature two aircraft concourses and a new car park accommodating 1,000 cars.
Ms Manaporn said the new terminal must be ready by the end of 2025 to help grow the province's tourism sector.
She also instructed the relevant authorities to coordinate with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) to review the airport's aircraft, cargo and passenger handling systems -- including the possibility of adding immigration, customs, health and animal quarantine checkpoints to facilitate international flights in the future.
The airport's 2,100-metre runway will be expanded to 2,990 metres. It will feature new electrical systems, allowing it to handle 14 mid-sized aircraft (such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s) at a time.
The runway upgrade is now 36% completed and is expected to be completed by January 2026.
Ms Manaporn said the upgraded runway will allow the airport to handle larger aircraft, giving the public more options and better prices.
Danai Raungsorn, DoA director-general, explained that the contractor's financial problems had caused the delay in finishing construction of the passenger terminal.
He said the DoA had sent a notice to the contractor on April 22, which included the criteria for termination and fines in the case of a contract breach.
In several discussions with the DoA, the contractor insisted it would resume work on the site by Oct 5. However, there has been no progress since their last meeting, he said.
On Oct 30, a DoA committee agreed to terminate the contract and the board is now looking for new contractors to finish the construction by the deadline, Mr Danai said.
