Airport traffic resumes gradually
Passenger traffic and aircraft movements through Suvarnabhumi Airport look set to resume a normal growth pattern over the next five months, thanks largely to the end of recession and improvements in Thailand’s political scene.
Airlines have booked 125,000 flights through the country’s main airport between the end of October and March next year – the aviation industry’s winter season – representing a year-on-year increase of 8.52%.
Passengers passing through the three-year-old airport in the period are expected to surge by 11.04% to 19.78 million, according to Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).
The rise in domestic flights and passenger numbers is projected to significantly outpace the increase in international traffic, although domestic figures are lower than international ones.
International takeoffs and landings are forecast to rise by 3.35% to 90,000, while domestic flights look set to leap 24.56% to 35,000.
A total of 14.91 million international passengers – an increase of 6% – are expected to go through Suvarnabhumi during the winter season, while domestic passenger traffic is expected to grow by 30% to 4.86 million.
Most international passengers will be from East Asia, accounting for 53.33% of the total.
Five more carriers are starting to operate through Suvarnabhumi this winter, raising the number of airlines to 94 from 89 in the summer season.The airport bookings indicate a return to normal for air traffic, which was hit by the seizure of Bangkok’s two airports – Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang – toward the end of 2008, as well as by political unrest, the global downturn and the H1N1 flu scare.
International travellers seem to be getting over their nightmarish memory of being stranded between Nov 25 and Dec 4 last year to come back to Thailand during the holiday season, said an industry observer.
In fact, signs of recovery in air traffic through Suvarnabhumi became clear in September with a robust 22.41% rise in passenger numbers to 3.17 million, while combined flight movements rose by 9.74% to 20,636.
September brought the second consecutive monthly recovery in flight traffic figures and volumes began recovering from the contractions of the first seven months of this year.
But the first nine months of this year saw passengers, at 29.09 million, still down 5.08% year-on-year, while aircraft movements slipped by 1.97% to 187,073.
Analysts said the speed of the global recovery and Thailand’s ability to improve its image, especially in the eyes of tourists, would determine whether traffic through Suvarnabhumi in 2009 would match 2008’s 38.6 million passengers and 245,719 flight movements.
Bangkok Post November 19th
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Alcazar Cabaret Show is worth paying a visit during your stay in Pattaya. One of Thailand’s premiere ladyboy cabarets, Alcazar has been a true feast for the eyes for more than 20 years.
Staying in Pattaya can be as much a quiet escape lazing by your hotel pool as a fun-packed action holiday.
In Central Pattaya, motels are not so grand, the restaurants smaller and the bars now not-so-funkier.