Traffic at Major Thai Airports Increase

13th Aug 2013

All major airports across Thailand saw an increase in both aircraft and passenger traffic movements during the six-months period this year.

Based on the data from Airports of Thailand, the six major airports handled a combined total of 43.6 million passengers, led by Suvarnabhumi with 25.6 million, Don Mueang with 7.9 million and Phuket Airport with 5.6 million. Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai International Airport remains at the bottom with over half a million passengers.

AoT data also showed that aircraft movements across all six airports grew by 18.94% during the month of June this year. The 45,333 flights recorded in June was an improvement of the previous month's 38,115. The six airports also recorded a total of 6,538,892 passengers for the month of June.

Suvarnabhumi Airport recorded a slight improvement of international aircraft movements, at 3.62%, and a decline in domestic aircraft movements by 29.51%, largely due to the migration of most domestic operations to Don Mueang Airport.

For passenger traffic, international passenger traffic increased by 5.24% to 3,281,672 from the previous month's 3,118,269 passengers. Domestic passenger traffic, meanwhile, contracted by 32.58% over the previous period to 617,171 passengers.

The data showed Don Mueang as the biggest gainer during the 6-month period in terms of both aircraft movements and passenger traffic.

Its international aircraft movements skyrocketed by 945.77%, from the measly 319 to 3,336. Its domestic aircraft movements, meanwhile, shot to 7,780 from 4,251 or a growth of 83.02% over the previous period.

Don Mueang registered a mammoth 4,171.71% growth in international passenger traffic for the month of June, from a little more than 10,000 in the previous month to more than 428,000. In the same token, its domestic passenger traffic grew substantially by 175.84%, shooting up to 794,411 from 287,998 passengers.

The northern gateway of Chiang Mai, likewise, grew significantly during the month of June, posting a growth of 64.13% and 10.76% for its international and domestic aircraft movements, respectively. Its international passenger traffic went up from 33,609 to 55,925 or 66.40% while domestic passenger traffic grew by 17.55%, from 263,373 to 309,591.

Phuket International Airport continued to be the country's busiest airport outside of Bangkok during the month of June, posting a growth of 39% and 20% for its international and domestic aircraft movements, respectively. Its overall passenger traffic, on the other hand, grew by 26.95%, from 621,889 to 789,493, more than half of which were international passengers.

Chiang Rai and Hat Yai Airports also posted positive growth in both aircraft movements and passenger traffic during the month.

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