High demand for low-cost carriers in Thailand

Low-cost carriers now account for about 44% of total passenger traffic and flight movements at Thailand’s main airports.

Data from Airports of Thailand (AoT), reported by the Bangkok Post, shows that traffic on LCCs at Thailand’s six major state-run airports – Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Hat Yai – surged 20.7% in the first nine months of 2016, to a total of 40.5 million passengers.

The growth of international LCC traffic (+34.6% to 14.5m) outpaced domestic LCC traffic (+14.2% to 26.0m) in Thailand in the January-September 2016 period.

The top four airports in terms of LCC passenger volumes were the main LCC hub, Don Mueang (+19.9% to 24.3m), followed by Phuket (+33.6% to 4.8m), Chiang Mai (+17.6% to 4.3m) and Suvarnabhumi (+25.0% to 3.5m).

Including all airlines, the six Thai airports handled 91m passengers in the nine-month period, up 12.5% year-on-year.