Thailand's Airports Reach Record Highs with 52.16 Million Passengers

[webfact]

Picture courtesy: MGR online

 

In the first half of 2024, Thailand's six international airports, under the management of Airports of Thailand (AOT), saw a significant increase in passenger traffic. Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit reported an impressive 52.16 million travelers, reflecting a 20.28% rise compared to the same period in the previous year.

 

AOT oversees six key airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Mae Fah Luang, Phuket, and Hat Yai, which together handle 95% of Thailand's domestic and international flights.

 

Speaking at AOT’s 45th-anniversary celebration at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, Suriya highlighted that 32.05 million of these passengers were international arrivals, mainly from Asia, Europe, and the United States.

 

These tourists contribute approximately 2.3 trillion baht annually to Thailand’s tourism industry, accounting for about 70% of the national expenditure budget.

 

Suriya, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, emphasized the collaborative efforts of AOT and the Ministry of Transport to position Thailand as a global aviation hub.

 

This objective is part of the government's Ignite Thailand initiative, launched in February, which aims to transform the country into a center for tourism, medical care, food, aviation, logistics, electric vehicles, the digital economy, and finance by 2030.

 

The initiative prioritizes infrastructure investment and promotional campaigns to attract both tourists and business travelers, with the aim of propelling Thailand to the 8th spot among the world's top tourist destinations.

 

The ministry has set ambitious goals to rank Thai airports among the top 20 globally within five years. Currently, Suvarnabhumi Airport is ranked 58th worldwide, while Don Mueang is recognized as one of the top 10 best low-cost airports.

 

AOT CEO Kirati Kitmanawat attributed the increase in international arrivals to the rapid recovery of the global tourism industry post-pandemic and the visa-free policy for visitors from China, Kazakhstan, India, and Taiwan.

 

From October 2023 to May 2024, AOT reported a remarkable 81.05 million passengers, reaching 83.4% of pre-pandemic levels.

 

Of these, 48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers. Kirati also noted a significant revenue boost, with AOT earning 33.94 billion baht from September 2023 to March 2024, a 71% year-on-year increase, and expressed optimism for continued growth in the latter half of the year.

 

-- 2024-07-05

 

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[Georgealbert]

This is just the beginning, from AOT, reported by The Thai Enquirer.

 

The Airports of Thailand (AOT) currently plan to expand existing airports and build new ones, including:

 

Suvarnabhumi Airport, East Expansion Project:

Budget: 12.5 billion baht
Area Increase: 81,000 sqm
Additional Passengers: 15 million
Tender Planned: November this year

 

Suvarnabhumi Airport South Expansion Project:

Budget: 120 billion baht
Additional Passengers: 60 million annually
Facilities Expansion: 512,000 sqm
Planning Phase: 2024-2025
Design: 2025-2026
Tender Opening: 2027

 

Runway 3:

Operations Start: September 2024
2025 Flights: 75, Revenue: 4.7 billion baht
2026 Flights: 85, Revenue: 8.6 billion baht
2027 Flights: 94, Revenue: 9.1 billion baht

 

Suvarnabhumi Airport West Expansion Project:

- Satellite 2 Terminal Construction
- Runway 4 Construction

 

Once completed, Suvarnabhumi is expected to handle around 150 million passengers per year, with a capacity for approximately 120 flights per hour.

 

Don Mueang Airport (DMK):

- Phase 3 Development Budget: 36 billion baht
- Capacity Increase: 30 to 40 million passengers annually, including: New international terminal, Terminal 3 (166,000 sqm) for 18 million international passengers annually
- Upgraded domestic terminals, Terminal 1 and 2 (210,800 sqm) for 22 million passengers annually
- Project Phase: Design ongoing
- Construction: 2025-2030
- Plan to build a Private Jet Terminal: 21,000 sqm

 

New Airports:

- Phang Nga (Andaman): 22.5 million passengers, Budget: 80 billion baht, Completion: 2031
- New Chiang Mai Airport (Lan Chang): 24 million passengers, Budget: 70 billion baht, Completion: 2031

 

Other Upgrades:

- Phuket Airport Phase 2: expand capacity to 18 million passengers, Budget: 6.2 billion baht, Completion: 2029
- Chiang Mai Airport: expand capacity to 20 million passengers, Budget: 15 billion baht, Completion: 2026
- Udon Thani Airport: expand capacity to 6.5 million passengers, Budget: 3.5 billion baht
- Buriram Airport: expand capacity to 2.8 million passengers, Budget: 460 million baht
- Krabi Airport: expand capacity to 12 million passengers, Budget: 6.5 billion baht

 

Edited July 4 by Georgealbert

[sumongkhwai]

I'm going to have to change my schedule then. Always took the red eye out of LAX at 1:30 am, 2 hour layover in Taipei and the brother-in-law picked us up at BKK at 10:30 am. Really helped with jet lag, leaving at night sleeping along the way and get there in the morning. But now, it seems like all these flights come in the morning so immigration is packed. I'm happy to come in at night and hire a private van to take us to our house but, it messes with my jet lag plan, oh well.

[hotchilli]

So the tourism business is booming.... shame manufacturing is sliding.

Thailand has nothing else to offer except it's daughters.

[Bobydog]

Is that all Arrivals or does it include departures as well. Lol

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

So the tourism business is booming.... shame manufacturing is sliding.

Thailand has nothing else to offer except it's daughters.

Yes, the rub a dub hub.

 

But 150m? 😳🤯 Twice the Thai population!

Edited July 5 by bradiston

[nobodysfriend]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit reported an impressive 52.16 million travelers

 

All quality tourists .

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the government's Ignite Thailand initiative, launched in February, which aims to transform the country into a center for tourism, medical care, food, aviation, logistics, electric vehicles, the digital economy, and finance by 2030.

 

Sure . Transform the country ... dear government , transform yourself first to show the world that Thailand has a functioning democracy with elected leaders and REALISTC plans for a sustainable future .

Money is NOT everything .

[Paul Henry]

50 millon arrivals, 30 million tourists who are the other 20 million.Returning citizens,business people, in transit?

TAT is managed by dreamers and fantasy lovers. What about some good hard data?

[bradiston]

1 minute ago, Paul Henry said:

50 millon arrivals, 30 million tourists who are the other 20 million.Returning citizens,business people, in transit?

TAT is managed by dreamers and fantasy lovers. What about some good hard data?

Probably domestic passengers.

[ikke1959]

passengers are no tourists.....

[lavender19]

They are probably counting the 55 family members seeing their mother off on a domestic flight

[john donson]

so they pad themselves on the back because more people visit TH ? and give them a big pay raise?  why not ask 1000 baht more on entrance for absolutely nothing in return

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

All quality tourists .

 

 

Sure . Transform the country ... dear government , transform yourself first to show the world that Thailand has a functioning democracy with elected leaders and REALISTC plans for a sustainable future .

Money is NOT everything .

Why do some nations believe they have the right to tell other nations how to run their country.

How realistic is it that the contest for the world's top job is between a geriatric and the mentally challenged?

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

passengers are no tourists.....

Where in the thread title does it say tourists?

Are you saying only tourists are entitled to improvements, not passengers.

People whinge about airport queues and delays, then whinge about improvements, unbelievable.

[DPKANKAN]

1 hour ago, Bobydog said:

Is that all Arrivals or does it include departures as well. Lol

It probably includes all those 20,000,000 travelling via Bangkok on a 1 - 2 hour stopover too!!!!5555😉😉😉😉

[paul1804]

1 hour ago, bradiston said:

Probably domestic passengers.

Of these, 48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers. Total 81m arrivals!

[kuzmabruk]

18 minutes ago, paul1804 said:

Of these, 48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers. Total 81m arrivals!

Anybody bored and able to do the math?

 

in 2019 (pre-covid) the number of international arrivals in the YEAR was 39 million.  48.95 for 6-months would equate to 97.9 million in the year.  That is more than 20%, using my mental calculator.  
 

Thailand is now #1

 

Top 10 Most Visited Countries in the World (All Time)

1. France. France tops the list with 89.4 million arrivals. ... 
2. Spain. Spain rose to second place with 83.7 million arrivals. ... 
3. United States. ... 
4. China. ... 
5. Italy. ... 
6. Turkey. ... 
7. Mexico. ... 
8. Thailand.

[cracker1]

I would be most interested to know how these figures were compiled :

"These tourists contribute approximately 2.3 trillion baht annually to Thailand’s tourism industry, accounting for about 70% of the national expenditure budget.

 

I have lived here more than 20 years and crossed the borders more than 100 times, and never been asked how much I spend !

[Sydebolle]

As far as extensions and/or new constructions are concerned; keep an eye on projects handled in the past and learn from them:

Korat/Nakorn Ratchasima - new airport with zero flights; going back to the old Air Force base between the zoo and much closer to town
Betong - two airports = zero flights
Chiang Rai - an absolutely unnecessary new airport was built to replace the (meanwhile empty) old airport
Phrae - no flights
Pai - no flights

and that's how the list goes on. Just keep in mind, that these airports costs billions of Baht and serve not only passengers. Maybe they should have a word with privately owned airlines; they - after all - will have to handle the traffic.

A pristine example was Prayuth's push for a new airport in Betong (border to Malaysia) by arm-twisting Nok Air. They started to fly and once they realized that they could not even generate the ground handling fees with their revenues they ........ stopped silently again. Nobody ever complained as the 15 minutes of fame were over 😉 

Same with Chatichai Choonhavan's Indochina aviation hub in Korat; what an absolute joke ...... 

[harryviking]

I wonder when the Thai population will start to protest the number of "tourists" like they do in parts of Europe! 😆

[harryviking]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So the tourism business is booming.... shame manufacturing is sliding.

Thailand has nothing else to offer except it's daughters.

....and they have a lot!

[Frankie baby]

Great figures, but where are they, everywheres empty. Somewhere between exiting immigration & transporting to the city, they must turn invisible. 

Edited July 5 by Frankie baby

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, paul1804 said:

Of these, 48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers. Total 81m arrivals!

 

The numbers in the article are obviously wrong, though it's unclear whether the speakers gave bad data or (more likely) the statistics were reported incorrectly. 

 

- This is (yet another) celebration of the glories of AOT, so the headline number actually represents passengers handled, including arrivals, departures, and transit passengers. This is of interest to the company, but has only an indirect relationship to international tourist arrivals. 

 

- The alleged statement that "32.05 million of these passengers were international arrivals" is obviously wrong, and is probably misreporting some different statement - though who knows. 

 

- The line that "48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers" is again referring to total passenger movements, and appears to be referring to the type of flight they were on, not their nationality. 

 

- It's irritating that we consistently see figures for AOT airports and DOA airports reported separately, but usually vaguely referred to as statistics for "Thailand". Company metrics and national ones are not the same, even though the great majority of passengers are handled by AOT.

 

- If AOT spent half as much time actually improving the airports under its control as it does promoting itself, Suvarnabhumi wouldn't have fallen so far in world rankings.

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, cracker1 said:

I have lived here more than 20 years and crossed the borders more than 100 times, and never been asked how much I spend !

 

Like most of our Economists, you've confused spending with revenue generated.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, harryviking said:

....and they have a lot!

Just as-well

[JensenZ]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So the tourism business is booming.... shame manufacturing is sliding.

Thailand has nothing else to offer except it's daughters.

An absurd, ignorant comment. I suppose what else would you expect from an ape.

 

Just the climate, beaches and the low cost of everything is more than enough to get tourists here. Thai hospitality is also a big factor, and well ahead of all its SE Asian neighbours. The sex industry is struggling, yet tourists are arriving in record numbers.

[crazykopite]

How many were getting connecting flights to other countries

[hotchilli]

42 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

An absurd, ignorant comment. I suppose what else would you expect from an ape.

Easy with the personal comments... I'm allowed to share my view without being personally attacked.

 

[sandyf]

3 hours ago, khunjeff said:

 

The numbers in the article are obviously wrong, though it's unclear whether the speakers gave bad data or (more likely) the statistics were reported incorrectly. 

 

- This is (yet another) celebration of the glories of AOT, so the headline number actually represents passengers handled, including arrivals, departures, and transit passengers. This is of interest to the company, but has only an indirect relationship to international tourist arrivals. 

 

- The alleged statement that "32.05 million of these passengers were international arrivals" is obviously wrong, and is probably misreporting some different statement - though who knows. 

 

- The line that "48.95 million were international travelers, and 32.09 million were domestic passengers" is again referring to total passenger movements, and appears to be referring to the type of flight they were on, not their nationality. 

 

- It's irritating that we consistently see figures for AOT airports and DOA airports reported separately, but usually vaguely referred to as statistics for "Thailand". Company metrics and national ones are not the same, even though the great majority of passengers are handled by AOT.

 

- If AOT spent half as much time actually improving the airports under its control as it does promoting itself, Suvarnabhumi wouldn't have fallen so far in world rankings.

I fail to understand why people feel compelled to start some sort of analysis on everything that gets said.

It is all very simple, there is either adequate capacity at the airports or there isn't. If people feel the existing capacity is more than adequate, just say so, the numbers are quite irrelevant. It may come as a surprise to some but passengers do not arrive uniformly, the key is being able to deal with a fluctuating flow.

 

When they created the Eurostar facility at St Pancras in London, future capacity was grossly under estimated and departure is now a horrendous experience. Obviously many would like to see Thailand take a leaf out of the Eurostar planning manual, would certainly provide future capacity for whinging.

[Reddavy]

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

An absurd, ignorant comment. I suppose what else would you expect from an ape.

 

Just the climate, beaches and the low cost of everything is more than enough to get tourists here. Thai hospitality is also a big factor, and well ahead of all its SE Asian neighbours. The sex industry is struggling, yet tourists are arriving in record numbers.

The sex industry is struggling🤣🤣 Tell that to the bar owners in soi 6/7 and soi buakhao Pattaya 🤣🤣