Rising traffic at Hat Yai Airport in Southern Thailand points out to a strong return of travellers to the region but also highlights the necessity for the airport’s authority to look for expansion…
HAT YAI – For many years, Hat Yai airport in the deep Southern part of Thailand seems to just enjoy stagnating traffic or at best a slightly growing trend. But over the last decade, the arrival of low fare airlines on domestic routes has turned into an asset for the airport. From less than a million passengers a decade ago, Hat Yai is fast approaching this year 2.5 million passengers. he surge in traffic has prompted Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) to take a hard look at expanding the airport’s capacity with the possible construction of a new passenger terminal.
According to data released by Airports of Thailand (AOT), passengers traffic between January and July grew by 21% to reach 1.46 million passengers. In 2012, traffic already surged by 10%, passing for the first time the two-million symbolic mark. In Hat Yai, low cost carriers represented last year 77.5% of all passengers. This year, that market share further increased to reach 82.2%. From five airlines flying currently into Hat Yai, Thai Airways is now the only legacy carrier.
International traffic still remains in its infancy. In 2012, only 12% (216,00 passengers) flew out of Hat Yai to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. A charter carrier is due to start holiday regular flights to Seoul while they have been talks about flights from Medan but nothing has so far materialized.
Airport operator AOT recently commissioned a consultancy to map out an expansion plan to accommodate long-term traffic growth as the airport is slowly approaching its saturation point. Talking to the Bangkok Post, AOT management indicated that the company is preparing terms of reference for constructing bids. The expansion should process as quick as possible. Works for the expansion could start in a year time and could double the capacity of the airport to 4.5 million passengers a year.
In between, Hat Yai passengers will have to cope with crowded facilities. AOT is however moving to address the issue by releasing some of the airport’s office spaces to expand capacity. It would help to add some 30% more space for the terminal…
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
