Phuket flight capacity rises to 70% but China airlines still staying away
Phuket Airport is now operating at 70 per cent of its flight capacity thanks to the improving Covid-19 situation, airport director Monchai Tanode said on Friday.
From January to August, 9,167 domestic and international flights landed at the airport, carrying a total of 849,406 passengers – or about 7,400 per day on average.
Monchai said the airport expects to see at least 30,000 passengers per day from November, when high season starts. Of these, more than half (16,000-18,000) should be Thais, he added.
Passenger numbers at the airport have jumped to about 10,000 per day this month after a rise in Thai tourists booking flights to Phuket since October 1.
Meanwhile, airlines from Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Turkey and South Korea say they will resume flights to Phuket towards the end of this year.
“We are also expecting flights from new airlines, such as Russia’s Aeroflot, which will launch two services per day to Phuket from October 30, and a Myanmar chartered flight operator who will fly here three times a week,” he said.
The 30 per cent of Phuket flights not yet restored are from China, which still has tight travel restrictions.
However, Monchai expects Phuket Airport to see 13 million passengers next year before returning to pre-Covid levels of 18 million passengers in 2024.
