Air passenger numbers soar

Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AoT) expects about one million passengers, both domestic and international, to pass through its six airports during the Songkran holidays.

AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said the number of air travellers has gone up since the government eased many Covid-19 restrictions, and dropped pre-arrival RT-PCR testing on April 1.

From April 1-7, a total of 894,756 air travellers passed through Suvarnabhumi (BKK), Don Mueang (DMK), Chiang Mai (CNX), Chiang Rai (CEI), Phuket (HKT) and Hat Yai (HDY).

The daily average of 127,822 passengers was a jump from the figure of 107,194 recorded last month.

The overall tally was made up of 202,280 international passengers, up 39% from last month, and 692,476 domestic travellers, up 14%.

In terms of air traffic, the airports logged 8,245 flights in the first seven days in April, or…