Suvarnabhumi airport set for busy Q1

Suvarnabhumi airport set for busy Q1

Passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi airport slipped slightly in the last quarter of 2014 but a robust rebound is expected this quarter.

The rapid shift of low-cost carrier (LCC) traffic to Don Mueang airport has been largely blamed for the 0.57% decline in throughput at Suvarnabhumi to 12.9 million passengers.

Domestic passenger traffic at Bangkok's primary gateway airport in the fourth quarter contracted 8.41% year-on-year to 2.02 million, reflecting that more domestic passengers are using no-frills airlines for home travel, according to Airports of Thailand Plc.

Most LCCs are based at Don Mueang, Bangkok's century-old airport.

However, international passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi in the fourth quarter inched up 1.04% to 10.9 million.

Overall aircraft movements — take-offs and landings — at Suvarnabhumi dropped 4.26% to 75,511, comprising 59,245 international movements (down 6.18%) and 16,266 domestic (up 3.41%).

Freight and mail through Suvarnabhumi rose 1.01% to 328,667 tonnes, comprising 317,045 tonnes for international services (up 1.01%) and 11,622 tonnes for domestic (up 1.14%).

Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Prapon Pattanakijsakul said yesterday that passenger traffic was expected to jump 9% in this quarter to a daily average of 150,000 to 160,000.

The projection is based on notifications for flight allotments from international airlines reacting to strong demand for the Lunar New Year, especially from Chinese travellers, and the approach of Thailand's Songkran holiday in April.

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