The Department of Airports (DoA) is seeking a budget of 40 million baht to finance an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study on the expansion of Nan's airport which is predicted to handle more passengers in the future.
The DoA is planning to request from the government a budget of 40 million baht to conduct the EIA survey on the airport runway's expansion and the construction of a new terminal.
The runway needs to be lengthened from 2,000 metres to 2,500 metres to accommodate larger aircraft, said DoA deputy director-general Jaroon Meesomboon.
The department hopes to be granted the study fund to be tapped from next year's fiscal budget during which the design of the study will take place. After that, the EIA process will get underway.
If the EIA is approved, the airport expansion is expected to begin in 2025 with the acquisition of land needed to add 500 more metres to the existing runway.
The construction phase of the runway expansion is likely to commence in 2027 and the project is estimated to take two to three years to complete.
Mr Jaroon said the budget for the entire airport improvement project including the runway expansion will be determined after the EIA report is wrapped up.
A longer runway is essential as Nan Nakhon Airport is currently able to handle only small planes. Once the expansion is finished, the airport will be able to receive overseas flights, especially from China, as well as from major points elsewhere in the country, apart from Bangkok, such as Phuket, using larger aircraft.
Nan welcomed about one million visitors a year before the pandemic hit.
