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Samui Airport Expansion: Works From 2026, Done by 2030
· Luxy Samui
Bangkok Airways says the Samui airport upgrade starts in the second quarter of 2026 and should be finished in 2030.
Bangkok Airways, which runs Samui airport, has set out the timetable for its expansion. According to TTR Weekly on 30 March 2026, the improvement project starts in the second quarter of 2026 and is due to be completed in 2030. The goal is an airport that can handle 6 million passengers a year.
What will change at the airport
The plan presented by the airline includes:
- More boarding gates, for a total of 11.
- 40 check-in points.
- 4,000 square metres of commercial space.
- A yearly capacity of 6 million passengers.
Thai financial news site Kaohoon International reported in December 2025 that the airline expected to invest 600 to 700 million baht in the project, with work starting in mid-2026 and lasting two to three years. The dates in the two reports are not identical, so the end date should be read as a target.
More flights allowed, but a slow increase
Samui airport works under a limit on daily flights. Kaohoon reports that this limit is now 73 flights a day. The airport is still far below that number. A Globlex Securities note quoted by Kaohoon in January 2026 counted 43 flights a day in 2024, and estimated 46 for 2025 and 47 for 2026. In other words, the permission exists, but the growth in flights is gradual.
How important Samui is for the airline
The island is the centre of the Bangkok Airways network. TTR Weekly reports that in 2025 Samui airport accounted for 65 percent of the airline's passengers and 61 percent of its flights. Planes on Samui routes were 83 percent full on average. For the whole network, the airline carried 4.226 million passengers in 2025 and expects 4.3 million in 2026.
The fleet is also changing. The airline has ordered 12 more ATR 72-600 aircraft, the type used on many Samui routes. The first two are due in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the rest by 2028.
What it means for your stay
No closure of the airport has been announced in the reports we read. You may see building areas and some changes in how passengers move through check-in or the gates over the next few years. Allow a little more time before your flight than you did in the past. In the longer term, more gates and check-in points should mean shorter queues at busy hours and room for more flights. This does not automatically mean lower fares, because fares depend on fuel costs and demand. If you plan a trip in high season, book flights early and then choose your villa. You can see our villas for rent in Koh Samui and match them to your flight dates.
