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The Thai Cabinet on Tuesday approved a budget of THB62 billion to fund the second phase of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport development as proposed by the Ministry of Transport.

Transport Minister Sophon Zarum speaking after the weekly Cabinet meeting said that construction of this phase was not required to undergo environmental and health impact assessments because the project did not include construction of the airport's third runway, which otherwise would have needed such the assessments.

The work for the second phase will cover construction of a tunnel connecting a concourse and additional bays.

"Although some parts of the work were deleted and only the necessary parts are to be built, I believe it won't affect the airport's development. The runways we now have can support 76 flights daily, while there are currently only 40 flights using them a day," said Mr Sophon.

Meanwhile, he said the transport ministry is studying the possibility of how to fully utilise Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport, and insisted there was no policy to close it down.

He said the airport has been serving charter flights and its buildings have been on the market as rental properties.

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