The global economic slowdown has taken its toll on Thailand's civil aviation market as growth is predicted to be only 1.2% instead of previously projected 6%, according to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai).
Somnuk Rongthong, president of Aerothai, described the actual growth rate as "alarming" and the lowest in the past decade.
"This clearly is the result of the sluggish global economy, crippled mainly by the US-Chinese trade war, the Pakistani airspace closure, and Brexit," he told media on Friday.
The latest grim projection is based on the number of flights in the past 11 months of fiscal 2019 (October last year to August this year).
A total of 964,322 flights were recorded and no more than 1.03 million flights in total are predicted by the end of September, representing 1.2% growth.
However, not all figures are bad. Aerothai has seen a rise of 7.4% in the number of flights in the northeastern routes compared to the same period last year.
Of the 3,000 flights per day, about 632 run the northeastern routes, he said, adding that the estimated number of all flights on this particular route for the entire year is 239,771.
He added that Aerothai is revising the country's routes in order to cope with the industry's outlook. It will send a revised plan to the air force for approval soon.
The plan also includes proposals to ensure the country's aviation services and operations are in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) policy, according to Mr Somnuk.