AoT airports make gains

BANGKOK, 20 May 2013: Airports of Thailand reports April data showed increases in both aircraft movements and passenger traffic at six airports under its management.

AoT released details, late last week, revealing improvements in aircraft movements of 13.72%. Flights increased from 41,295 to 46,962. The entire system handled 1 million more passengers than in April last year. It represented a 15.87% increase in passenger traffic up from 6,334,758 to 7,340,021 for all airports.

It is indicative of the passenger traffic boom mainly from Asian airports. AoT is now playing catch up as traffic growth begins to put pressure on capacity and facilities at Suvarnabhumi (April: 4.3 million passenger traffic) and Phuket airports (900,000).

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Smart ID plan for Suvarnabhumi

BANGKOK, 14 May 2013: Thailand’s main aviation gateway, Suvarnabhumi Airport may adopt the use of ID smart cards for Thai travellers passing through immigration by the end of this year.

Processing at checkpoints will be faster using ID smart cards than the traditional passport, although the latter will still be required at the final destination.

Airports of Thailand board chairman, Sita Divari, said the scheme was being discussed with Immigration Bureau and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials on  replacing passports with ID smart cards to reduce queues at checkpoints.

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Changi honours its top airlines

SINGAPORE, 8 May 2013: Changi Airport Group presented its Changi Airline Awards 2013 to 34 airline partners, Tuesday evening, to recognise their contribution to the airport’s development.

The annual awards now in its eighth year were presented by Minister for Transport, Lui Tuck Yew at the Regent Hotel.

This year’s Partner of the Year award was presented to FedEx Express, in recognition of its strong partnership with CAG to strengthen the airport’s air hub status.

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Traffic grows at AoT airports

BANGKOK, 23 April 2013: Airports of Thailand reports its data for March  showed increases in both aircraft movements and passenger traffic at six airports under its management.

AoT released details, late last week, showing improvements in March aircraft movements of 15.11%. The number of flights increased from 42,379 to 48,784. Passenger traffic grew 20.86% from 6,608,807 to 7,987,089 for the entire system.

However, Suvarnabhumi Airport suffered an overall dip in performance. The airport registered a loss in international aircraft movements of 3.04% from 20,034 to 19,425 in March. Domestic movements dropped 36.91% from 8,398 to 5,298 movements.

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Suvarnabhumi expansion due 2017

BANGKOK, 17 April 2013: Airports of Thailand says the second phase of Suvarnabhumi Airport will go ahead and should be completed by 2017, but will it be enough to keep pace with passenger traffic?

AoT officials privately say no, realising past political strife and delays in securing funds for the second and third phases make it almost impossible to catch up with passenger traffic increases.

According to local news reports, AoT board chairman, Sita Divari, said political instabilities as well as other issues delayed the start of the second expansion phase at Suvarnabhumi airport.

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AoT’s plans for Don Mueang falter

BANGKOK, 11 April 2013: Thailand’s national flag carrier, Thai Airways International, says it has no plans to shift flights to Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport.

Airports of Thailand said it was actively campaigning to open Don Mueang Airport to all international airlines putting it on an equal footing with Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The move would help reduce congestion at Suvarnabhumi, give airlines a choice, provide more convenience for millions of residents who live in northern suburbs of the city and make better use of a government facility built from tax payers’ money that has stood empty since 2008.

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AoT: Turn Don Mueang into second hub

BANGKOK, 2 April 2013: Airports of Thailand says it will open Don Mueang Airport to all international airlines putting it on an equal par with Suvarnabhumi Airport.

According to the local newspapers, AoT has confirmed the plan, late last week, after the shift in policy was approved by the board of directors.

But as 70% of the company’s shares are still owned by the government, the plan will have to be approved by the Cabinet.

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Turn Don Mueang into low-cost hub

BANGKOK, 27 March 2013: Thai AirAsia has recommended that the Thai government establish Don Mueang Airport as a low-cost hub for the ASEAN region.

The airline CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld, told the local media, earlier this week, that he recently handed a letter to the Transport Minister, Chatchart Sittipan, outlining recommendations to push Don Mueang Airport as a low-cost hub in the region.

“If it was accepted then terminal 1 and 2 would serve only low-cost airlines in the lead-up to the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015… it would provide a clear image that it was a base for low-cost airlines and attract more travellers.”

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Airport starts road safety campaign

BANGKOK, 22 March 2013: Suvarnabhumi Airport’s management says it will tighten road safety within the airport complex to reduce accidents during the Songkran holiday.

Suvarnabhumi Airport deputy director, Itthipol Boonaree, said the airport has launched a safety campaign with airport police to encourage commuters to drive more sensibly on the  airport’s privately owned roads.

“Over 125,000 cars visit the airport each day. We are told there are frequent accidents and the number increases significantly during Songkran festival in mid-April.”

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Sri Lanka opens airport

MATTALA, SRI LANKA, 19 March 2013: Sri Lanka’s president opened the country’s second international airport on Monday, intended to help spur a new economic hub and act as a gateway to the island’s southeast.

The Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia on Monday became the first foreign airline to start scheduled services out of Mattala Rajapakse International Airport, about 270 km (168 miles) south of the capital Colombo by road.

Built with funding from China’s Export-Import Bank, the new US$206 million facility in Hambantota district can accommodate the Airbus A380, the biggest airliner in service, and is surrounded by a free-trade zone.

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