Airports of Thailand, or AoT, expects about a million air travellers to transit through its airports during Songkran this week. The estimate includes both international and domestic passengers who will catch flights to, from and around Thailand. Since the government lifted several Covid-19 restrictions on April 1, including scrapping the pre-arrival PCR test requirement, the number of travellers entering the country has noticeably increased.
During the first seven days of April, around 895,000 people flew through Phuket, Hat Yai, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Bangkok’s two airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang. The six airports recorded more than 8,200 flights in the first week of the month, averaging around 1,180 flights per day. Of last week’s travellers, 202,280 were international, while nearly 692,500 were domestic, for impressive increases of 39% and 14%, respectively.
Flights are are projected to further increase during the Thai New Year, with more than 9,300 flights expected this week — a 14% increase from this time last year. That figure includes some 2,500 international flights and 6,800 domestic flights, for a 123% increase and 2% decrease over last year, respectively.
To accommodate the increase in passengers, airlines are filling more seats while increasing flights. According to the AoT, Thailand saw an average of nearly 1,180 international flights per day in the first week of April, for a total of more than 8,200 flights, up 5% from March. Meanwhile, domestic flights also increased 15%.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post