More foreign tourists expected after Chiang Mai airport operates 24 hours next month
The chief of Chiang Mai International Airport has express confidence that more foreign tourists will arrive, especially from China and South Korea, after the airport starts operating 24 hours starting next month.
Wing Commander Ronnakorn Chalermsaenyakorn, director of the airport, said they were now in the process of gathering necessary information from all concerned government agencies to submit to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) to seek approval for temporarily operating the airport around the clock.
Ronnakorn said he believed the CAAT would approve the 24-hour operation within this month. He expected Chiang Mai airport would start operating 24 hours from November 1.
The airport would later prepare information and documents to request permission for operating 24 hours permanently, he added.
During the past 35 years, the airport has been operating from 6am to midnight.
In case of emergency, the airport had to seek permission to operate after midnight and the process took time.
With the permission to operate 24 hours, it would be more convenient for the airport to respond to the needs of airlines in case of emergency and it would result in more safety, Ronnakorn added.
The Chiang Mai airport is seeking permission to operate 24 hours after the government approved visa exemption for Chinese tourists from now until February to boost tourism.
Ronnakorn said the time slot after midnight would allow the airport to accommodate more flights, especially chartered flights from China in line with the government’s tourism stimulus policy.
Currently, there are 20 international flights to and from Chiang Mai and seven of them fly to and from Shanghai, Jinhong, Kwangchow, Beijing, Chengdu, Kunming and Hangzhou each day. About 4,800 passengers arrive from China each day now, Ronnakorn added.
But before the Covid pandemic, there were 31 international flights to and from Chiang Mai with 14 direct flights to China, carrying 8,800 Chinese passengers each day.
He said the airport expected the number to be at least 30% higher that the average number before the visa-free policy.
He said the airport also expected more chartered flights from South Korea to bring golf enthusiasts during the rainy season.
Ronnakorn said South Korean tourists like to take chartered flights to Chiang Mai after 10pm so the extended hours would facilitate their trips.
He said other concerned government agencies would also get prepared for the 24-hour operation of the airport, including Immigration Police and agricultural officials in charge of animal and plant quarantine. Business operators, such as money exchange shops, restaurants and coffee shops, would also operate 24 hours.
The centres at the airport would operate from 7am to 11pm every day; at the Tha Pae ancient gate from 9am to 5pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; and at the TAT Chiang Mai Office from 8.30am to 4.30pm on weekdays.
