Summary · why it matters
U-Tapao International Aviation Company Limited, or UTA, officially received its Notice to Proceed, or NTP, on April 3, 2026, clearing the way to move ahead with the development of the U-Tapao Airport and Eastern Aviation City project in the portions that are ready, after the project was delayed for more than six years, partly due to conditions tied to the high-speed rail project linking three airports. Earlier, the Eastern Economic Corridor Office and UTA signed a joint contract management agreement on January 29, 2026, to allow parts of the project to proceed even though the high-speed rail has yet to reach a clear conclusion. Weerawat Panthawangkul, Chief Executive Officer of UTA, disclosed that the company is preparing investment and reviewing the project's development approach, especially the size of the passenger terminal in the first phase, which under the original plan was set to handle about 12 million passengers a year, compared with the current roughly 300,000 to 400,000 passengers a year and about 2 million a year before the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-term target remains a maximum capacity of about 60 million passengers a year. UTA has already spent more than 6 billion baht on the project for preparation and development before construction began, and it expects infrastructure investment to begin within the next 12 months. If work can start under that framework, the project will take about five more years to develop before opening for service. UTA is a joint venture between Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited, or BA, and BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited, or BTS, which each hold 40%, while Stecon Group Public Company Limited, or STECON, holds 20%. BTS's investment in UTA falls under its MOVE business. Surapong Laoha-Unya, an executive director and chief of BTS's MOVE business group and a UTA director, said the company is designing, laying out and studying ways to use the area while seeking approval from relevant agencies, preparing an environmental impact assessment, or EIA, and arranging funding sources. The project covers a total area of about 6,500 rai. Most recently, the Cabinet acknowledged the necessary and urgent support measures under a resolution of the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee and assigned the Eastern Economic Corridor Office and related agencies to expedite legal and other measures so they take practical effect by September 30, 2026. The Eastern Economic Corridor Office estimates that if the measures take effect, they will help stimulate about 1.3 trillion baht in private investment within the project over its lifetime, create a total of more than 63,701 jobs, add about 400,000 foreign tourists a year, spur about 20 billion baht in spending in the area once service begins, and add more than 37 billion baht to gross domestic product in the first year of service.
Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited
BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited
STECON Group Public Company Limited