AOT, THAI eye small airports
Airports of Thailand Plc and Thai Airways International Plc have proposed taking over the management of some of the 26 provincial airports from the Civil Aviation Department, said caretaker Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
Speaking at the opening of Krabi Airport's new Bt743-million terminal yesterday, Phumtham said he had asked the three parties to negotiate together. "Personally, I don't believe in the idea that there will only one agency given authority to manage the airports. What we need is to get the maximum benefit for the airports," he said. Phumtham said there would no conflict of interest should airline companies propose themselves as operators for the airports. However, he stressed that a carrier would have to have a good business plan for the management of an airport. Airports of Thailand president Chotisak Asapaviriya said his agency was now considering its readiness to transfer the responsibility for managing some provincial airports from the Civil Aviation Department. He said transferring and developing the airports would take place in phases concentrating on the North's Phitsanulok Airport, the Northeast's Udon Thani and Khon Kaen airports, and the South's Krabi Airport. Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation KRABI
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