Pai airport to get major upgrade

The growing number of tourists to Pai has prompted officials to expand Pai Airport to better serve travellers who want to explore the remote but beautiful mountainous district in Mae Hong Son.

The plan was recently proposed to the Department of Civil Aviation, about 10 years after a major upgrade of the airport’s runway in 2007.

The department is studying the proposal, initiated by the Pai Tourism Business Association, and is planning to join hands with a company to expand the airport, said Darun Saengchai, chief of the department which oversees the airport.

He said officials are interested in making a joint investment under the Public Private Partnership, also known as PPP, which is being promoted by the government as an investment option for large-scale development projects.

At present, Pai Airport has an area of more than 78 rai and a 23-by-900-metre long runway. It has sufficient space to park two small aircraft simultaneously.

The runway length was increased from 700 metres after the department allocated about 20 million baht for the upgrade in late 2007.

The department needs to carry out a new airport expansion project as the number of tourists is rising. There were a total of 309 flights to Pai district last year. The number of passengers arriving at the airport was 140 while the number of those departing stood at 2,928.

Kan Air is the only airline providing two flights a day between Pai and Chiang Mai.

In an unrelated story, Suvarnabhumi Airport director Sirote Duangratana said officials found no hindrances to flight services at the airport during the first six days of its 60-day maintenance of parts of the eastern runway and B1 taxiway.

“All flights have been operating normally with no delays,” he said yesterday, referring to an inspection conducted from March 3 to 8.

During this six-day period, there were 952 flights on average with most of them international flights. The average number of domestic and international passengers was 171,000 a day, according to the airport’s officials.

The airport started repairing a 935-metre section of the eastern runway and the B1 taxiway last Friday. The maintenance is expected to be finished in May.

The ongoing work limits usage of the eastern runway as it can only serve departing planes. As a result, the airport has to depend more on the western runway.

For this reason, the airport is taking better care of the western runway to make sure it can ensure smooth and safe operations of all planes, Mr Sirote said.

However, in the event of flight delays of more than one hour, the airport already has plans to deal with the problem, he said.

Snack boxes will be given to passengers who encounter flight delays that last between one and three hours.

If the delays extend to more than three hours, the airport will serve passengers with hot meals. The food and drinks are aimed at easing the inconvenience.