CityNews – AOT has approved a 60 billion baht budget for a new Chiang Mai airport, to be built in Lamphun.
On May 23rd, Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, the President of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) announced their approval of a 120 billion baht budget for the development of two new airports, on in Chiang Mai and one in Phuket. The budget will be split equally between the two projects.
There has been much speculation regarding the location of a new Chiang Mai airport, or whether a new airport would be built at all, but following this statement the plans seem more concrete than ever before. The location of the new airport will be in Ban Thi, Lamphun, roughly 30km from the current airport.
Although AOT have approved the budget and location of the new airport, a green light can only be given if it passes a resolution in the cabinet. The project will be presented to the cabinet by the end of the year.
If the project is approved, it is estimated that construction will be complete by 2025.