Thailand to invest $3.9b in new airport

BANGKOK, May 28 (Reuters): Airports of Thailand PCL, a major beneficiary of the country's tourism boom, is adding new airports to its portfolio to ease demand, President Nitinai Sirismatthakarn told Reuters on Monday.
The influx of tourists has lifted revenue and the share price, but is putting pressure on infrastructure and services.
"Demand is outpacing supply," Nitinai said adding that AOT increased capacity to 101 million in its 2017 fiscal year, whereas passengers numbers reached 129 million.
"We expect 10 per cent passenger growth this fiscal year and continued growth for the next 4-5 years" Nitinai said.
AOT, which manages six airports in Thailand including the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, will build two additional airports to serve Chiang Mai and Phuket, both tourist cities where airports are at overcapacity.
Thailand expects tourist arrivals to reach 37.5 million this year, up 6.0 per cent from 2017.
In February, the Phuket airport had to close overnight due to cracks in the runway.
AOT reported a 12.3 per cent jump in profit in its second-quarter ending in March, booking 7.3 billion baht ($228.70 million), will finance the 126 billion baht construction bill on its own, he said.