The cabinet yesterday approved plans for a third runway at Suvarnabhumi airport at a cost of 21.79 billion baht, down from an initial 22.4 billion baht.
The project was approved on the condition that Airports of Thailand (AoT) only sign the construction contract when the required environmental and health impact assessment (EHIA) report is approved by the National Environment Board, deputy government spokesman Lt Gen Werachon Sukondhapatipak said.
The new runway is designed to have the capacity to handle up to 30 extra flights per hour.
The two existing runways have a combined capacity to cope with 64 flights per hour.
With all three runways, the airport will then be capable of handling up to 94 flights per hour, Lt Gen Werachon said.
Currently, if an emergency arises and one of the two existing runways has to shut for whatever reason, the airport only has the capacity to handle 34 flights per hour, he said.
That's why a third runway is needed, he added.
The two existing runways, the 3.7km western one and the 4km eastern runway, are 2.2km apart, he said.
The third runway is designed to be 60m wide and 4km long and run parallel with the western runway, which is closer to the cargo terminal, he said.
Currently, cargo aircraft have to use the eastern runway because it is longer and more suitable for heavier aircraft; but since the cargo terminal is on the west side of the airport planes have to taxi a long way, he said.
This not only creates unnecessary fuel costs but also heavy traffic along taxiways between the two runways, he said.
The third runway project is part of the 2015-2022 transport infrastructure development plan approved by the cabinet on March 27, 2015, he said.
The Transport Ministry expects construction of the runway to begin later this year, and the work to be completed in 2021, he said.
The AoT had initially proposed to invest 22.4 billion baht in the new runway project; but the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council advised it to scale the work back to 21.71, which the ministry later backed.
