Rail delay prompts UTA-EEC talks

The delay in constructing the high-speed railway connecting three airports has U-Tapao International Aviation Company (UTA) preparing to negotiate with the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), requesting an easing of some requirements in the expansion of U-tapao airport as the number of passengers would be affected by the absence of mass transit.
Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways and director of UTA, said UTA plans to draft a secondary plan for proposal to the EEC office for approval. The Don Mueang-Suvarnabhumi-U-tapao high-speed railway is not expected to start operation by mid-2025, which marks five years for the construction contract.
“We’re still eager to continue our key projects in the EEC, including the expansion of U-Tapao airport and the airport city project. However, some projections must be downgraded, such as passenger traffic per year and revenue generation, if we do not have a high-speed railway to facilitate the flow of travellers,” said Mr Puttipong.
He said during the preparation period, UTA invested 4 billion baht and needs to spend another 15 billion to complete phase one of the airport expansion.
The airport is forecast to draw 8-10 million passengers per year when phase one is complete, with construction of each phase estimated at five years.
According to the master plan, the company would gradually expand the capacity of airports over 50 years in order to accommodate 60 million passengers per year.
Mr Puttipong said the company is still studying the new passenger traffic forecast, in case the high-speed railway cannot be built in time for the airport expansion, but the downgrade should not be more than 50%.
The revised scenario is expected to be finalised in the first quarter next year, leading to talks with the EEC in the first half of 2025. UTA plans to seek permission to start construction without waiting for the railway project, as the 220-kilometre high-speed railway was initially set as a mandatory condition for UTA to start its development, he said.
Meanwhile, the airport city should be another mechanism to drive traffic, as it would seek partnerships with other firms to co-invest in the project, such as hotels, exhibition venues or even a Formula One circuit to draw a large crowd to this area, said Mr Puttipong.
Regarding Bangkok Airways this year, he said it predicts 4.5 million passengers from 48,000 flights, earning 17.8 billion baht in ticket sales.
The average airfare is projected at 4,000 baht per flight, up from the nine-month average of 3,900 baht.
However, challenges remain with upgrading the average load factor from 82% to 85%, as well as the ability to acquire more aircraft because of a global supply shortage, said Mr Puttipong.
“We already added two aircraft to the fleet on a temporary basis via a wet leasing arrangement. We intend to use these aircraft, manned by foreign pilots, only for international flights, in compliance with labour laws that allow foreign pilots to fly those routes,” he said.