Bangkok Post and Samui Times report that 2014 will land first planes on Koh Phangan. Achieving Koh Phangan will be a lot easier, with critics pointing out the environmental impact.
Construction progresses on Thailand's fifth largest island, according to the investor Somphong Sooksanguan progress and an opening next year seems possible.
Secured airport financing?
Somphong Sooksanguan, the owner of the airline Kan Air, has already invested 200 million baht in the development of Thailand's third private airport. Even if he says he could finance the project on his own, he is now looking for investors who are interested in a joint venture and is ready to offer shares of up to 40%. Whether this is an indication that the financing for the 900 million baht project is not yet complete is not known ... on Koh Phangan, however, it is spread that, for example, the property on which the airport is to be built has not yet been paid for.
Mr. Somphong is not just the owner of the airline Kan Air Special recently joined the low-cost airline (Thai) Vietjet air as 51% shareholder. Incidentally, the assets of Somphong Sooksanguan come from lending operations.
Koh Phangan Airport will continue the expansion of Kan Air, which currently flies to six destinations in Thailand. Kan Air currently uses small aircraft with eight to 12 seats - for the Bangkok Koh Phangan route, which is to be flown twice a day, a leased ATR 42 will be used for you are to 50 passengers be used.
Easier journey to Koh Phangan?
At present, Koh Phangan can only be reached by ferry. The nearest airport is Koh Samui, which connects Bangkok with expensive Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways flights. How much a ticket Koh Phangan - Bangkok will cost is not known. Due to the small aircraft, the flights will probably not be cheap. Kan Air has announced, however, that the airport may be used by other airlines. The "small" airport will have a capacity of 600.000 passengers per year, or 1600 passengers per day.
Koh Phangan Airport will be built over the seabed 250 m making the construction project a challenge. The terrain must be leveled and space created for the 1100 m runway. About 1.2 Millions of cubic meters of land must be cleared on the 100 Rai site. Mr Somphong and Kan Air, however, assure that the airport and the terminal will fit well into the landscape. In addition, project operators have indicated that the project is being supported by the people of Koh Phanan. In the meantime, a plan is circulating on the Internet about what the future airport on Ko Phangan should look like:
hopefully it's just a joke ...
I do not know what to think about it, even more tourists and aircraft noise?
Translate by ferry is fully ok, an airport is unnecessary mMn. And a ticket from BKK to Koh Samui is not that expensive either.