Landing Fees Waived At Phuket To Boost Flights

[george]

TOURISM SLUMP: Landing fees waived at Phuket to boost flights

Airport fees also cut in Krabi to help boost new arrivals

PHUKET: -- Airlines using Phuket and Krabi airports would be temporarily exempted from paying landing fees under a Tourism and Sports Ministry proposal designed to attract flights back to the tsunami-hit southwestern coast.

“The cancellation of landing fees at the two airports would be a good way to rebuild tourism in Phuket and Krabi as well as the Andaman Coast,” Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters yesterday.

He did not say when the Cabinet was expected to consider the proposal.

Since the tsunami hit Phuket in December, the number of flights has nosedived to 35 per week, compared to 192 during the last low season. Ten charter companies have stopped servicing the island.

The two airports charge Bt60,000 or Bt120,000 per landing, depending on the size of the aircraft.

Somsak said he wanted the airports to drop the fee until the end of this year. The travel business in other Andaman areas such as Phi Phi and Phang Nga has also hit rock bottom.

During last year’s peak season Phuket airport welcomed 365 scheduled flights a week from five international and six domestic airlines, as well as 24 charter flights a month.

Low season always sees the frequency of regular flights cut almost in half.

Phuket International Airport is managed by Airports of Thailand, while Krabi Airport is run by the Aviation Department.

Earlier, hotels, airlines, tour operators and related businesses asked the government to reduce landing fees at Phuket and Krabi airports as a partial subsidy for airline operations.

Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, suggested the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand call the Andaman coast something different, for example using

each individual province’s name instead.

The country needs to distance itself from the Andaman image, which is still tinged with the risk of tsunamis, he said.

A member of the Thai Hotels Association has asked the ministry to launch a new national tourism campaign to woo international tourists, following up on the

successful Visit Thailand Year and Amazing Thailand efforts.

--The Nation 2005-06-09

[Pattayaguy1999]

Unless the airlines reduce the airfare accordingly, how will this result in more tourists? It will take continual press releases in Phuket's major markets to stimulate higher visitor numbers. Only when visitors are assured that everything is back to normal will they return to the Phuket area. Significantly lower airfares should help, but will not solve the low occupancy levels hotels are experiencing.

[george]

Minister to propose lifting of plane tax in Phuket, Krabi

BANGKOK: -- Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Thepsuthin is to propose that landing fees be temporarily lifted in airports of Thailand's southern resort provinces of Phuket and Krabi to help attract airlines back to the Andaman region following the last December tsunami.

Tourism operators in Phuket, who have warned of a continuing tourism ‘crisis’, have pointed to the sharp reduction in the number of airlines flying to the region after the tsunami as one factor behind the failure of the region’s tourism industry to fully pick up.

Mr. Somsak said that the temporary lifting of the landing fees would be proposed to the cabinet next week.

There are currently only 35 scheduled flights arriving in Phuket each week, while all charter airlines have suspended operations to the province.

This compares to a pre-tsunami high-season rate of 365 domestic and international flights coming to the island each week, a figure which would normally be expected to drop to 195 flights in the low season.

Noting that the landing fees for the use of the Phuket and Krabi Airports are normally

Bt60,000-Bt120,000 per flight, Mr. Somsak expressed hope that by lifting the tax, the government would attract more flights to the country's Andaman region.

So ingrained has the image of the December tsunami become in the minds of tourists considering the Andaman region, that Mr. Aphichat Sankha-aree, head of the Thai Tourism Business Association, has even proposed that the government abolishes the use of the word ‘Andaman’ in its marketing campaigns.

Instead, he has advocated that marketing campaigns be focused on the name of each individual southern province.

--TNA 2005-06-09

[mnoorsapl]

TOURISM SLUMP: Landing fees waived at Phuket to boost flights

Airport fees also cut in Krabi to help boost new arrivals

PHUKET: -- Airlines using Phuket and Krabi airports would be temporarily exempted from paying landing fees under a Tourism and Sports Ministry proposal designed to attract flights back to the tsunami-hit southwestern coast.

--The Nation 2005-06-09

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does this means cheaper airfare ? temporarily

[sriracha john]

From 365 weekly high season flights to 35 now is such a huge drop and helps to put things in real perspective.

As for reducing airfares, I wouldn't expect to see any significant drop. Even at the highest rate of B120,000 if it's spread over 300 passengers on a 747, makes it only B400 per person cheaper. On an international flight, US$3,000 is but such a small part of the total cost to make it insignificant.