3 days Ago
While Chinese passengers dropped by roughly a third at Phuket airport, traffic remained robust from other countries such as Russia and Turkey, which should help the airport secure 18 million passengers this year. Monchai Tanode, general manager of the airport, predicts 1,000-2,000 inbound Chinese passengers daily, decreasing from more than 3,000 during the high season. According to the Airports of Thailand (AOT) arrival data for April 1-21, Phuket airport welcomed 1,370 Chinese tourists daily during that period.
Chinese carriers such as Spring Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have already cancelled some flights. Mr Monchai said the airport recorded a drop in both chartered and scheduled flights during the low season, as safety concerns triggered by call centre scams still hinder travel demand. He said the Russian market has surpassed the Chinese market in Phuket.
During the summer schedule or low season, some Russian carriers also reduce their chartered services, such as Ikar Airlines and Azur Air. However, there are flights from other countries that help fill the gap in the low season, including Turkish Airlines, which continues to operate during this summer. According to AOT, during the first quarter, the number of international flights at Phuket airport recovered to 17,895, compared with 18,036 flights in 2019.
The number of international passengers reached 3.5 million, surpassing 3.28 million recorded during the corresponding period of 2019.
The number of domestic passengers and flights in the first quarter recovered by 89% and 97% of the 2019 level, with 1.8 million passengers and 13,152 flights. Mr Monchai said the total passenger number would reach 18 million this year, up from 16 million recorded last year.
He said to meet growing tourism demand, the airport is in the process of designing a new international terminal building which can accommodate 5 million passengers a year, in addition to the existing capacity of 5.5 million for the international terminal and 7 million for the domestic terminal. Construction is expected to begin within 2027 and be completed within three years.
Regarding the new Andaman airport, Mr Monchai said it's in the feasibility study stage, which should be completed in the next few months. The full completion should have two runways and will be able to accommodate 22.5 million passengers.
AOT also announced opening up the land surrounding its six airports, including at Phuket airport, totalling 2,512 rai to investors to develop new real estate projects. This scheme is estimated to attract at least 28.8 billion baht in investment to these areas, as the company aims to increase revenue in real estate businesses that only contribute 0.
2% of its total annual revenue now..
