January 10th the Thai Airport Authority revealed that since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus at the beginning of last year, the domestic passenger throughput of Thai airports has shrunk by 60%.
Apilat Chaiwangnoi, Executive Director of Thailand Airport Authority, said that domestic passenger throughput data from Thailand’s 20 major airports showed that the average number of returning passengers on the eve of the New Year this year was 3000 per day, and plummeted to 12,000 after the holiday.
Thailand’s long New Year’s Day holiday has an average of 160 domestic flights entering and leaving 20 major airports every day, and the average daily flights after the New Year’s Day holiday have decreased by 40%.
Affected by the second wave of COVID-19, Thailand’s domestic aviation market demand has greatly decreased, forcing airlines to further reduce flights.
Some airlines have asked the Thai Airport Authority to extend the special measures taken in the face of the epidemic, including reducing the take-off and landing fees of flights at the airport, after the measures expired on December 31 last year.
