Thailand’s airports set new passenger records

Airports of Thailand has reported 2015 calendar year ending international passenger traffic of $62.5m passengers across all six airports. Added together with the 47.3m domestic passengers last year, this set a new record of nearly 110m passengers for the 12-month period according to Airports of Thailand (AOT).

All but one of the six airports reported positive international numbers, with Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok generating a +15.93% increase to 44,218,785, followed by Don Mueang with 9,170,681 (+53.10%); Phuket with +8.25% to 6,955,139; Chiang Mai +44.16% to 1,170,681; and Hat Yai +6.57% to 234,017 and Chiang Rai -8.46% to 26,715.

All six airports were also in positive territory in terms of domestic passenger numbers, with Don Mueang leading the rest up 35.85% to 21.2m (see table for full list).

Meanwhile, in the last declaration of AOT’s financial results dated 27 November 2015, the publicly listed AOT reported a rise of more than 20% in operating performance for the year ended September 30 2015.

Reported net profits were up by 53%, thanks to a 15.97% increase in flights and a 21.94% rise in passengers in this quoted period. This, in turn, resulted in aeronautical revenues increasing by 18.87% and concession revenues rising by 19.99%.

AOT’s exclusive duty free concessionaire is the King Power International Group, which operates airport shops at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket and Chiang Mai.