Thailand: U-Tapao International Airport Expansion Project

proposed

The U-Tapao International Airport (UTIA) is the only air transport facility in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) region, which neighbors Bangkok (140 km), and consists of the Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayong provinces. The Project consists of the construction of the second runway and taxiway at the UTIA and forms a critical piece of the overall UTIA expansion. The Project is the government's contribution to the airport expansion and operation which will be carried out under a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) scheme; it is part of the viability gap financing of a Concession Agreement which has been awarded in 2020 to a joint venture for a 50-year period. This Project is part of Thailand's EEC, which aims to develop the less-developed southeast part of Thailand. The EEC includes a mixture of public and private sector investments framed in a long-term development plan. Amongst others, the EEC includes the capacity expansion of UTIA, the construction of a high-speed rail connecting Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok (metropolitan area), Don Mueang International Airport, and UTIA, the expansion of Map Ta Phut Port and Laem Chabang Port and the development of an airport city around UTIA.