AOT to pay King Power THB193m to reacquire rented space at Suvarnabhumi
Authority expects to make up for the loss in income after East Expansion project is completed
Airports of Thailand (AOT) has agreed to pay 193.08 million baht to King Power Suvarnabhumi Ltd (KPS) for the area it plans to acquire for the expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s eastern passenger terminal, also known as the East Expansion project.
AOT, which operates Suvarnabhumi and five other airports, notified the Stock Exchange of Thailand of its board of directors’ decision on Friday.
The airport authority said it had asked KPS on July 30 to return the area at the Food Stop (formerly City Garden) on the eastern terminal’s second floor so it could start the construction for the expansion project.
KPS has a rental contract for the area for commercial purposes from September 28, 2020 to March 31, 2033.
The company had asked the AOT to allocate a commercial area within the domestic terminal of the same size as the Food Stop. However, AOT was unable to accept the request, as there is not enough space available in the terminal.
The AOT’s board of directors therefore resolved to pay 193.08 million baht to KPS, which is the amount that the company had paid the AOT as a minimum return on the rental space from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. KPS also agreed to not demand any further compensation from the AOT, said the notification.
The AOT added that by taking the space back from KPS, the authority would suffer a drop in rental income of 591,000 baht per month, and a minimum return from April 1, 2024 to March 1, 2025 of around 23.46 million baht per month. This projected missing income was already acknowledged in the AOT financial report of fiscal 2024.
The AOT estimated that after the East Expansion project is complete, the authority would earn higher income from additional renters to offset the loss of revenue.
