Thailand: Local flights pick up steam in North

Air traffic at the Chiang Mai international airport is picking up with more flights and passengers expected this month, said Amornrat Chumsai Na Ayutthaya, the airport director. The North's main gateway airport is recovering some of its flight and passenger traffic. On average, the airport received 40 flights carrying about 4,000-5,000 passengers a day last month. The number of flights is expected to rise to 68 a day on average while passenger figures are predicted to jump 50% this month, according to Mr Amornrak. However, scheduled flights operate only on domestic routes including those connecting Chiang Mai to other hub airports at U-Tapao, Hat Yai, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani. International flights are likely to return slowly after the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand announced the lifting of the ban on international flights under some conditions with immediate effect on Monday. Analysts agreed inbound flights will not quickly return to the pre-Covid 19 level as air travel to and from the main markets still battered by the pandemic will remain suspended, and people are delaying their overseas travel plans. The CAAT announcement coincided with the IATA release of figures for passenger demand in May which dropped 91.3% compared to May 2019. This was a mild uptick from the 94% annual decline recorded in April 2020. The improvement was driven by a recovery in some domestic markets, most notably China. "May was not quite as terrible as April. That's about the best thing that can be said," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's DG and CEO, adding there is tremendous uncertainty about what impact a resurgence of new Covid-19 cases in key markets could have.<br/>