Hua Hin Airport expansion is being mulled over once again with the Thailand Department of Airports (DoA) Acting Director, Khun Rattapol Charoenphon, confirming a significant upgrade that will allow the facility to obtain international status is under review.
At the moment, several safety and infrastructure improvements are needed and the DoA is putting together a proposal detailing what is required. That will be forwarded to the Transport Ministry in hopes that plans are approved and budgeted.
Those plans will also be forwarded to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, who can sign off on the facility’s international status. Once approved, airport officials believe it will take 600 days to complete the project which will include enlarging nearby traffic and train tunnels.
This is not the first major Hua Hin Airport expansion in recent times. A runway extension and terminal upgrade were both carried out in the 2010s. Between 2018 and early 2020, Air Asia operated four-times weekly flights linking Kuala Lumpur to Hua Hin. Those were scrapped during the pandemic and never restarted.
The airline now operates three weekly flights between the city and Chiang Mai. No other airlines or flights are currently active. The DoA is said to be in talks with several carriers about using the expanded airport once completed.
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Interesting Analysis
The latest Hua Hin Airport expansion attempts won’t have that much of an impact. Sure, a few flights each week will use the facility, but it is simply not big enough to do much more than that. It is hard to gauge what overseas market would even be a good fit for flights to the seaside town.
Kuala Lumpur was chosen by Air Asia as it was a transfer point. Tourists could fly from somewhere else to KL before moving on to Hua Hin. Maybe that is something under consideration. Another idea would be for Thai Airways and/or Bangkok Airways to offer Bangkok to Hua Hin flights. This could potentially support overseas visitors wanting to transfer, assuming it was financially viable.
This group currently needs to fly into the Thai capital before taking a minibus or shuttle to Hua Hin. That is not ideal and has hindered the town’s ability to attract tourists over the years.
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