ATTA sets up DMK office

BANGKOK : Association of Thai Travel Agents opened an office at Don Mueang Airport, last Friday, that will offer meet-and-greet services for member travel agents.
The Don Mueang office is the second hospitality base operated by the association. The other is at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
ATTA secretary, Charoen Wangananont, said the office will enable member agents to offer meet-and-greet services to their clients, within the framework of the Airports of Thailand.
“Considering to the country current situation, we expect travel agency clients to average 2,000 a day,” he said.
ATTA spent Bt3,100,000 to establish the counter service (10.5 sqm) an office (50 sqm), waiting area (1,000 sqm) and parking (4,300 sqm).
All the services are located on the ground floor of Don Mueang Airport (DMK).
The project will also enable ATTA to collect data on international visitors handled by its members at the airport.
At the moment it only collects data at Suvarnabhumi Airport, while many tourists are now using Don Mueang Airport especially from neighbouring destinations taking advantage of low-cost airlines. This trend is expected to continue to grow as low-cost airlines add more services and accommodate travel agency customers.
AirAsia has recently upgraded its booking systems to allow travel agencies more control and real-time access to seat inventory and fares.
ATTA closed its office at Don Mueang Airports when all commercial flights were diverted to Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006.
“Don Mueang Airport is now the country’s second international gateway… our office project responds to this reality,” he said.
Don Mueang, one of the oldest airports in Asia, opened for commercial flights in 1924 and closed technically to commercial aviation in September 2006, although it was still used for private and charter air services. It was later reopened to limited domestic services in addition to charters in March 2007.
The Yingluck government reinstated it as Bangkok’s second international airport in March 2012.
During its heyday the airport handled 38 million passengers a year, making it the second busiest airport in Asia.

Sourced: ttrweekly