THERE is a shortage of airports in many parts of Southeast Asia and even international airports serving major cities in the region are running out of capacity and are increasingly stretched by millions of passengers. Consequently, the focus on airport investment is intensifying.
Industry analyst Frost & Sullivan estimates that passenger throughput at Asean airports rose to 233 million passengers in 2014, an increase of 10 percent since 2011. By 2025, the region’s airports are predicted to handle more than three times the volume of movements handled in 2005.
The entry and rapid development of budget airlines is responsible for much of the increased traffic. Growth of discount carriers has been phenomenal and they continue to drive the aviation market in the Region.
However, these newer low-cost carriers (LCCs) are finding expansion increasingly constrained by a lack of airport infrastructure, particularly in the region’s vast archipelagic areas. Unlike Europe, the region has far fewer smaller or disused airports that LCCs are able to use.
If current aviation growth is going to be sustained, investment in airports and associated technologies, safety and security, needs to keep pace with the expansion in every country in the region.
Brunei doubled annual handling capacity in 2014; Indonesia with 210 airports has a particularly urgent need to modernize and expand facilities to accommodate huge passenger demand; the Philippines has to get its act together to modernize airports, provide IFR facilities and decide how to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta are embarking on major expansions to consolidate and develop their roles as both regional and international hub airports. In the near term, Airports of Thailand wants to expand Bangkok’s principal Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Asia’s sixth busiest, to handle 65 million passengers; construction of a third runway, terminal and parking bays will expand the airport to handle nearly twice as many passengers as it currently does. The Authority has plans to develop Don Muang, Bangkok’s first international airport, that is now used by LCCs. Expansion projects are also under way at Phuket International, which handles travelers heading for Thailand’s beach resorts.
Vietnam officials have agreed that a major new airport should be built at Long Thanh, some 35 kilometer outside Saigon. In neighboring Cambodia, a $100-million project to expand passenger terminals in Phnom Penh and Siem Riep began in 2014.
Manila’s Naia has three terminals but just one runway and is already well beyond its designed capacity of 20 million passengers a year; Naia already handled more than 30 million in 2013.
Of Myanmar’s serviceable airports only Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw are capable of handling international flights. The government plans to add two international airports to meet future requirements.
The relaxation of market regulations among Asean countries has removed many traditional impediments to growth, offering a host of new opportunities that wait to be exploited.