Surat Thani International Airport
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox airport
Surat Thani International Airport Template:Airport codes is an international airport in Tambon Hua Toei, Amphoe Phunphin, Surat Thani province in Southern Thailand. It is located Template:Convert west of downtown Surat Thani, and is also home to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) squadrons. It has a single paved runway and is the tenth-busiest airport in Thailand in terms of passengers, handling more than two million passengers annually.
Airlines and destinations
Template:Airport destination list
Statistics
Passengers
| Year | Total passengers | Change | Total flights | Total cargo (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 180,621 | 1,531 | 4,646.35 | |
| 2002 | 163,321 | Template:Decrease 9.58% | 1,510 | 2,472.06 |
| 2003 | 162,661 | Template:Decrease 0.40% | 1,518 | 2,070.01 |
| 2004 | 202,250 | Template:Increase 24.34% | 1,629 | 1,858.76 |
| 2005 | 206,342 | Template:Increase 2.02% | 1,793 | 1,698.92 |
| 2006 | 291,094 | Template:Increase 41.07% | 2,812 | 1,412.82 |
| 2007 | 359,467 | Template:Increase 23.49% | 3,316 | 1,061.95 |
| 2008 | 344,748 | Template:Decrease 4.09% | 2,904 | 1,464.76 |
| 2009 | 394,096 | Template:Increase 14.31% | 3,266 | 1,301.99 |
| 2010 | 505,776 | Template:Increase 28.34% | 4,460 | 1,152.31 |
| 2011 | 595,184 | Template:Increase 17.68% | 5,251 | 1,369.13 |
| 2012 | 816,484 | Template:Increase 37.18% | 6,308 | 1,541.00 |
| 2013 | 1,080,508 | Template:Increase 32.34% | 8,457 | 1,568.07 |
| 2014 | 1,319,660 | Template:Increase 22.13% | 10,175 | 1,571.29 |
| 2015 | 1,856,315 | Template:Increase 40.67% | 13,257 | 1,601.26 |
| 2016 | 2,032,042 | Template:Increase 9.47% | 13,813 | 1,575.77 |
| 2017 | 2,247,344 | Template:Increase 10.60% | 15,396 | 1,036.80 |
| 2018 | 2,108,289 | Template:Decrease 6.19% | 14,000 | 1,144.99 |
| 2019 | 1,864,997 | Template:Decrease 11.54% | 12,340 | 829.87 |
History
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Donnok airport
Surat Thani Airport's predecessor is known locally as Donnok Airport (Template:Langx). It is located in Makham Tia subdistrict, Mueang Surat Thani district, around Template:Convert away from Surat Thani City, and has a single, gravel paved runway, 800 meters in length.<ref name=":0" /> Later, the runway was expanded by the Royal Thai Air Force to 1,000 metres, which was still only capable of handling small planes, such as the Douglas DC-3.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The current airport
Due to the original airport's close proximity to Surat Thani, The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) planned a new airport away from the city. A former airfield used in World War II by the military was chosen as the site for the new airport. After the construction site was chosen, a plan for the airfield's development was proposed. However, in 1973, the government suspended the development project and used the funds to support Phuket International Airport's operations instead.<ref name=":0" />
In 1975, many residents in Surat Thani called for the project's reconsideration. The Ministry of Defence and CAAT showed interest in the project and the airfield's development began in 1978. The airport was officially opened on 15 April 1981. It had a single runway, 2,500 metres in length. In 1993, the runway was expanded to support larger commercial flights and military operations.<ref name=":0" />
Future upgrades and developments
The Department of Airports announced a 1.7 billion Baht plan to upgrade the airport.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Details of the project are as following:
- The airport's apron will be expanded to increase its capacity up to 11 Boeing 737s at a time.<ref name=":1" />
- The electrical system and wires will be moved underground.
- The airport terminal will be expanded to accommodate up to 3.6 million passengers a year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The car park will also be expanded to handle up to 700 cars at a time.<ref name=":1" />
- The runway will be upgraded to increase its strength.<ref name=":1" />
- Construction of the new transportation center to handle more passengers.<ref name=":1" />
Military use
As well as being a commercial facility, Surat Thani Airport is an active RTAF base, the home of 4th Air Division/7th Wing Air Combat Command. 701 Squadron, "Shark", flies twelve SAAB JAS-39 C/D Gripen fighter aircraft. 702 Squadron operates two airborne early warning (AEW) and two transport SAAB SF340 airplanes. A further two SF340s are on order.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Accidents and incidents
On 11 December 1998, Thai Airways International Flight 261, an Airbus A310-200 (HS-TIA, Phitsanulok), bound for Surat Thani from Bangkok, was making its third landing attempt in heavy rain when it crashed into a rice paddy about Template:Cvt from the airport; 101 of the 146 passengers and crew aboard were killed.