BKK, the flagship airport of AOT, is being expanded.

A decline in duty-free revenue in the three months to March 2026 pushed down concession income at Airports of Thailand (AOT) by -0.76%. This was, however, a significant improvement on the six-month contraction of -8.55%, despite a +4.2% increase in passenger numbers to 71.3m (43.3m international and 28m domestic) in the half-year to March.

In figures, concessions – the biggest slice (60%) of non-aeronautical income for the listed company – brought in THB5,148.7m/ $157.7m* in fiscal Q2, which AOT said was down “mainly due to a decrease in duty-free concession revenues”.

Duty-free was offset by service revenue in the non-aeronautical stream.

Total non-aeronautical income at the 70% state-owned company rose by +1.1% in the quarter to reach THB8,616.2/ $264m, helped into positive territory by a +4.3% rise in service revenue, which offset the duty-free decline.

A dispute over contracts with AOT’s core retail operator, King Power Duty Free, was said to be resolved in December through renegotiated terms, but AOT did not allude to this in its latest management discussion.

The six-month view

From a revenue perspective, the -8.55% contraction in H1 has meant that its share of AOT’s total revenue has fallen to 28.1% from 30.4% in the same period a year ago.

AOT runs six airports, including Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK) in Thailand and the six gateways handle about 90% of Thailand’s total passenger volumes. In the first six months of FY 2026, although the overall passenger numbers rose by +4.2%, this growth was mainly driven by domestic travel.

The six-month breakdown by segment.

The company admits that it faces “significant challenges” for the remainder of FY26 due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has significantly impacted airlines’ fuel bills and led to higher ticket prices. “This has affected passenger travel and airline flight cancellations,” noted AOT. “To mitigate these impacts, the airport operator has implemented an incentive scheme for slot management.

The second phase of the project runs for three years from 1 November 2025 to 28 October 2028 and provides a discount on aviation (landing charges, parking charges and boarding bridge charges) of 50% throughout the period.

AOT expansion plans move forward

In addition, AOT has completed the redesign of the construction plans for the East Expansion of BKK. This project is currently awaiting government approval regarding revisions to the project details. The expansion will accommodate an additional 15 million passengers per year. An environmental impact assessment is expected to be completed mid-year, and the project will be finished in 2031.

Regarding BKK’s Development Master Plan, AOT completed its revision in December, and a draft, the 2025 edition, has been approved by the board. The framework envisions expansion primarily in the southern zone, comprising South Terminal, the 4th runway, aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) centre, cargo, general aviation activities, automated people mover (APM) system, as well as an integrated transportation system and utility infrastructure. This will enable the gateway to accommodate up to 120 million passengers annually.

[*FX conversions at today’s rate.]

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