New PM eyes lower domestic air fares

[reader]

From The Nation

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has scheduled a meeting on Monday (August 28) afternoon at the Pheu Thai Party's headquarters in Bangkok with Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) and the Thai Airline Association to address issues related to inadequate flights and high airfares.

They will also discuss the challenges in accommodating tourists during the upcoming high-season period.

AOT Plc had previously presented a plan on resolving airport congestion, while major airlines are requesting tax reduction on aviation fuel.

Efforts are expected to be made to prepare the private sector for the tourism high season in the fourth quarter, beginning with the Chinese National Day in early October. Airlines are also being told to gear up to be ready and ensure both stability and safety.

AOT chief executive officer Kirati Kitmanawat mentioned that Srettha had noted problems concerning insufficient flights and high airfares. The PM has called a meeting with AOT and airline executives through the Thai Airline Association to address these issues.

AOT has been told by Srettha to expedite management measures to alleviate congestion at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports. The issue of high air ticket fares is expected to be resolved by November to accommodate tourists during the high season. AOT will also present plans to the PM addressing congestion at airports.

The capacity of the passenger terminal at Phuket Airport would be expanded from the current 12 million people per year to 20 million people per year, with a budget of 10 billion baht, expected to be completed by 2025. During the redevelopment of Phuket Airport, a study will be conducted to build a new airport in Phang Nga province, capable of accommodating 20 million passengers, with an estimated investment of 80 billion baht to help relieve the load on Phuket Airport.

[reader]

From The Nation

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met with representatives of eight key airlines as well as Airports of Thailand (AOT) and Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) representatives to discuss the future of Thailand’s tourism industry.

The meeting on Monday discussed the air traffic situation in Thailand and schemes to promote tourism during high season later this year.

The airlines present in the meeting were Thai Airways, Thai VietJet Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Smile Airways, Bangkok Airways, Thai Lion Air and Nok Air.

The proposals presented to the premier and his economic team by the airlines, AOT and CAAT, were:

• Boosting flights by at least 20%

• Enhancing aircraft capacity to accommodate a higher number of passengers

• Expanding efforts to attract tourists from large markets like China and India

• Adjusting aircraft fleet to match tourism promotion.

The government’s aim is to launch more travel campaigns next year, and the first step will be getting the airlines ready. Each airline said it would improve flights and routes if the government can boost domestic demand. The airlines are also willing to make tickets more reasonable.

[PeterRS]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:36 PM, reader said:

From The Nation

AOT chief executive officer Kirati Kitmanawat mentioned that Srettha had noted problems concerning insufficient flights and high airfares. The PM has called a meeting with AOT and airline executives through the Thai Airline Association to address these issues.

AOT has been told by Srettha to expedite management measures to alleviate congestion at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.

 

I wonder how you increase flights with lower airfares which adds to congestion, and yet the PM expects the AOT to reduce congestion! 

[reader]

The factors that most affect congestion are fully staffed immigration stations, ground staff responsible for servicing in arriving and departing aircraft, and, of course, additional gates. The latter may see some improvement next month when BKK's satellite terminal is scheduled for a soft opening. Rumor has it that Qatar has already started notifying some passengers departing late in the fourth quarter that they plan to use the new facility.

This is a pre-construction view of cross section:

From The Nation

The Foreign Ministry is set to overhaul the visa system to boost tourism revenue from Thailand’s main markets, especially China and India.

The move comes after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met with the airports authority and airlines on Monday for talks on how to attract more foreign visitors. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is targeting revenue of 3 trillion baht from foreign visitors next year. However, Thai tourism operators have complained that lengthy and sometimes costly visa application processes are deterring travellers from Thailand’s top two overseas markets – China and India.

Although the e-visa online application process is now available in nine countries – China, the UK, France, the United States, South Korea, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark – Thai operators say it needs to be streamlined as it is putting off Chinese tourists from visiting Thailand. Visitors from China accounted for about 28% of the 40 million pre-pandemic arrivals in 2019.

Meanwhile Indian tourists still have to pay 2,000 baht for a 15-day visa on arrival. However, this restriction could soon be lifted after the prime minister signalled he wants to expand the list of visa-exempt countries.

The Foreign Ministry recently held an online meeting with Thai consular officials around the globe to develop new strategies for tourism and other areas to boost the economy.

The visa overhaul will also extend to Thais living abroad.

This includes an upgrade of consular data, an e-Help consular app to assist Thai citizens, and the development of e-visa and e-passport systems, as well as a system to monitor overseas voting during future Thai general elections.

 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, reader said:

 

Meanwhile Indian tourists still have to pay 2,000 baht for a 15-day visa on arrival.

that's steep , specially for such a big market. I can imagine some may balk at such cost, specially for repeated visit.