October airport figures offer hope

23 Nov 2009  2059 | World Travel News

Airports of Thailand?s October statistics remained positive for the second month in a row, almost across-the-board, offering hope to the travel trade that the worst is now over.

Comparisons were made with the same month, last year, when internal political conflicts devastated the tourism industry and global oil price spiraled to dampen demand. But there were signs of improvements when compared with October 2007, a banner year for tourism.

Overall, aircraft movements at six AoT airports were up 5.48% from 29,366 to 30,975, while passenger figures increased 13.85% from 4,233,772 to 4,821,515. Domestic traffic grew more than international traffic. Domestic aircraft movements rose 16.23%, whereas international movements were down by 1.59%. In terms of passengers, there was an increase of 19.05% against 10.73%.

In general, when compared with October 2007, passenger numbers were on par, or slightly higher at 1%. Domestic passengers were higher than what was achieved in October 2007, but international passengers were down on that benchmark. However, there has been a drop in airline services that reduced seat capacity to Thailand since 2008. Both domestic and international capacity dropped by about 6.72%.

At Bangkok?s Suvarnabhumi Airport, international passengers grew 10.48%, last October, whereas aircraft movement scaled back by 2.07%. Combined domestic traffic at both Bangkok airports showed a 19.21% increase in passengers and an 11.75% increase in aircraft movement.

At the country?s second largest airport, Phuket Airport, international aircraft movement and passenger were up 14.83% and 15.12% respectively, while domestic-wise, the increases were 14.83% and 14.16% respectively.

Chiang Mai Airport recorded a 22.43% increase in domestic aircraft movements and 18.56% increase in domestic passengers. However, the northern destination lacks direct international service. International aircraft movement and passengers improved slightly at 7% and 14.75% respectively.

Hat Yai and Chiang Rai gained double digit growth in domestic traffic compared with October last year. Aircraft movements were 42.52% at Hat Yai Airport, while Chiang Rai gained 47.49%. Passengers increased 23.71% and 35.98% respectively.

Sourced = The TTR Weekly


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