Thai air passenger volume soars to 32m-plus record

Passenger traffic through major Thai airports soared 13.73% in Q1 to reach a record of 32.32m people. Robust tourism coupled with the popularity of budget airlines contributed to growth in the January-March period. LCCs increased their passenger volume by 20.06% during the period to 13.49m, representing 41.73% of overall passenger traffic through the six airports operated by Airports of Thailand (AoT). The surge in combined passenger throughput was accompanied by a 9.47% increase in aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which numbered 197,913. LCCs accounted for 82,972 of that sum, up 8.14% over the same period last year. Four of the 6 AoT-run airports recorded double-digit growth in combined passenger traffic. Bangkok's Don Mueang showed the highest growth rate in Q1. <br/>