Bangkok International operator Airports of Thailand (AOT) posted a healthy +8.3% rise in concession revenues for the last financial year (to 30 September 2017), with the figure hitting (US$454 million). Concession income contributed 61% of all non-aeronautical revenues of US$740 million. Non-aeronautical income climbed by +10.5% and represented 44% of AOT revenue in the year.

The strong commercial performance – led at Bangkok and other airports by King Power International Group – has continued in the first three quarters of the 2018 financial year. In Q3, concession revenues climbed by +12.5% year-on-year, outstripping passenger traffic growth of +8.5%.

Tourism remains the major driver, with inbound travel from China a key factor in boosting traffic and concession income at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

With capacity tightening amid sharp annual traffic rises, the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport Development Project continues at pace. The first phase will be completed by 2020, adding capacity for 15 million more passengers per year. A major Terminal 2 expansion project will add a further 30 million by 2021, the same year as a third runway is expected to be complete. These projects will offer opportunities for further commercial expansion, and the new terminal project is tied into AOT’s longer term plans for retail.