While Phuket airport’s expansion progresses only slowly, alternative to accommodate the growing number of tourists coming to Southern Thailand is by expanding Krabi and Trang airports…
BANGKOK – As Phuket International Airport is unable to cope with a traffic of 9.5 million passengers in 2012 when its capacity is just around 6.5 million, Thailand’s authorities look for alternatives. A new terminal at Phuket is due to double the airport’s capacity to 12 million passengers a year. However, the project has been delayed and once achieved –experts speak now of 2016-, the new terminal might already be insufficient to cope with further tourist demand for Southern Thailand’s largest resort destination.
Phuket receives currently over 2.5 million international travellers in a year. In February, its airport registered 2,611 flights with a capacity of 503,190 seats (Data from IATA-SRS Analyzer).
By comparison, Krabi airport –which is located slightly over 100 km away from Phuket- accommodated in February a total of 504 flights representing 89,472 seats. But in 2012, Krabi Airport, located slightly over 100 km away from Phuket, was expanded. The capacity of the airport is now reaching over four million passengers a year. Krabi however remains underused. It is only served regularly by scheduled flights from Bangkok, Samui, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore while regular charter flights are proposed to China PRC as well as Scandinavia –mostly to Finland and Sweden. The airport currently welcomes slightly over a million passengers a year, which means that only 25% of Krabi airport’s capacity is effectively used.
Trang is another airport that the Civil Aviation is now looking at upgrading. It is 200 km away from Phuket. The airport welcomes over 250,000 passengers a year with new flights being added from Bangkok by both AirAsia and Nok Air. The Civil Aviation Department is now funding a study on the extension of the runway to accommodate more passengers. A sum of THB 10 million baht (US$ 330,000) is due to be allocated in fiscal year 2014 to study the extension of the runway from 2,100m to 3,000m. An additional budget would be allocated in fiscal year 2015 for an environment impact assessment of the planned runway extension. Trang is planning in its current fiscal year to enlarge its tarmac to accommodate four aircraft instead of two. An upgrade of the terminal is also planned.
The department recognised the necessity to upgrade the airport to accommodate increasing passenger traffic especially by putting larger aircraft in service. Trang is expected to accommodate over 300,000 passengers in 2013.
Total number of flights and seats to Krabi and Trang(one way) February 2013
|
Mktg Al |
Stop-over |
Dest |
Flights |
Seats |
|
6B |
ARN |
8 |
2 328 |
|
|
AK |
KUL |
56 |
10 080 |
|
|
FD |
DMK |
154 |
25 872 |
|
|
FM |
PVG |
12 |
2 160 |
|
|
MU |
HGH |
14 |
3 052 |
|
|
MU |
KMG |
8 |
1 072 |
|
|
MU |
NGB |
10 |
1 580 |
|
|
MU |
WUH |
5 |
850 |
|
|
MU |
XIY |
13 |
2 054 |
|
|
PG |
USM |
BKK |
28 |
1 960 |
|
PG |
USM |
28 |
1 960 |
|
|
TG |
BKK |
140 |
31 464 |
|
|
TR |
SIN |
28 |
5 040 |
|
|
TOTAL |
504 |
89 472 |
(Source: IATA-SRS Analyzer Feb 2013)
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.
