2.65m passengers to fly from six major Thai airports during New Year

Millions of Thais are expected to travel overseas or visit their relatives upcountry during the New Year break. Public holidays are from December 29 to January 1.

Suriya said that during the the week of New Year holidays, a total of 2,658,809 passengers, or an average of 379,860 passengers per day, will be using the six airports managed by the Airports of Thailand (AOT) — Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, and Chiang Rai.

The passenger travel estimate is 35.5% higher than in the same period of last year.

Suriya added that the AOT would operate a total of 15,152 flights during the said period, or an average of 2,165 flights per day, a 27.4% jump year on year.

He urged airport officials to increase monitoring for passenger safety as well as use technologies to provide quality services in a timely manner, in a bid to reduce congestion at terminals and checkpoints.

These technologies include self-service check-in kiosks and bag drop points, self-boarding gates, and passenger validation system.

Suriya also urged passengers to arrive 2-3 hours before departure time to minimise the risk of missing flights during peak hours.

To facilitate travel during the New Year holidays, AOT will waive parking fees at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket airports from midnight of December 29 to midnight of January 1.

Free parking will be available at Suvarnabhumi Airport’s Zone C, with a capacity of 718 cars, and Don Mueang Airport’s warehouse 2 and 5-storey parking building, with a capacity of 250 cars. Both airports provide free shuttle bus service to passenger terminals.

Meanwhile, the parking lot at the head office of Phuket Airport will be free during the said period, but with no shuttle bus service.