Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport prepared to serve rising int'l passengers

BANGKOK, February 3 (TNA) - Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport plans to improve and increase facilities to serve rising international passengers later this year. Suvarnabhumi Airport Director Praphon Pattamakitsakul told journalists on Tuesday that the number of international passengers using the Suvarnabhumi International Airport is expected to rise by 9 per cent to 150,000-160,000 daily in the second quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2014, prompting the airport to work out the service plan to meet the rising demand. Under the plan, Praphon said, the Suvarnabhumi International Airport's management will soon, among others, install 16 more passport readers and electronic charts, open the new Transfer Baggage Terminal to serve transit passengers and improve taxi services. According to the airport's director, about 10.87 million passengers of international flights used the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, up 1.04 per cent year-on-year, although about 2.03 million passengers of domestic flights who used the airport in the same period was down by 8.41 year-on-year. The airport's director also noted that the Suvarnabhumi International Airport served 16,266 domestic flights in the first quarter, up by 3.41 per cent year-on-year, but 59,245 international flights served by the airport in the same period was down by 6.18 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the Suvarnabhumi International Airport handled 328,667 tons of cargoes and parcels in the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, up by 1.01 per cent year-on-year, comprising 317,045 tons of international cargoes, up by 1.01 per cent year-on-year, and 1,622 tons of domestic cargoes, up by 1.14 per cent year-on-year. (TNA)