Thailand tourism surges with visa-free policy, Phuket leads

Following the easing of Covid-19, world tourism has skilled a resurgence, bolstered by the Thai authorities’s visa-free coverage. This has led to a steady enhance in vacationers visiting Thailand.

Current information from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports activities revealed that between January and March, the variety of vacationers reached 7,021,344, marking a 5.91% enhance in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months. Moreover Bangkok, Phuket emerged as a high vacation spot, welcoming 1,121,808 vacationers in January alone, an increase of 21.07% from January 2024.

Phuket Airport has turn out to be the main regional airport in Thailand when it comes to flight quantity, dealing with 379 flights per day, rating third nationally after Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports. Nevertheless, as Phuket Airport operates with a single runway, it could possibly accommodate solely 25 flights per hour. Any points on this runway might instantly disrupt air visitors, halting flights.

To handle the rising variety of vacationers and air visitors, the Ministry of Transport has tasked Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd. with enhancing flight capability. They’re taking Fukuoka Airport in Kyushu, Japan, as a benchmark as a consequence of its comparable bodily traits to Phuket Airport and different main regional airports in Thailand. Fukuoka Airport, beforehand the highest single-runway airport in Japan, helps as much as 38 flights per hour.

Japan airport go to

Throughout a go to to Fukuoka Airport, Monporn Charoensri, deputy transport minister, together with Aeronautical Radio of Thailand officers, explored leveraging Fukuoka’s air transport know-how for bettering Phuket and different regional airports’ capabilities. Monporn highlighted Fukuoka’s financial, commerce, and tourism attraction, expressing intentions to undertake its know-how to boost service high quality, flight capability, and vacationer confidence in cleanliness, service, and airport administration, following the federal government’s visa-free coverage.

Pichate Kunathammarak, chairman of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, famous that worldwide flights in Thailand from October 2024 to January 2025 totalled 165,474, a 23% enhance from the earlier 12 months. The go to to Fukuoka, ranked as Japan’s fourth-busiest airport, goals to combine Fukuoka’s air visitors administration methods into Phuket’s operations. This consists of airspace administration, bodily airport administration like runways and taxiways, and the utilization of Fukuoka’s techniques to enhance Phuket and different regional airports’ air visitors administration effectivity.

Naphasit Chakrapitak, director-general of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, recognized three areas for enhancing Phuket Airport’s flight capability: air visitors administration, bodily infrastructure, and collaborative decision-making processes. A Excessive Depth Runway Operation (HIRO) mission is underway at Phuket Airport to cut back Runway Occupancy Time (ROT), rising flight dealing with capability. Improved Speedy Exit Taxiways (RET) will cut back runway occupancy time, permitting extra flights. Integration of Airport Collaborative Choice Making (A-CDM) with Air Visitors Circulation Administration (ATFM) is predicted to boost general airport effectivity.

Moreover, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand plans to introduce Multilateration (MLAT) techniques and Digital Towers to handle air visitors, aiming for Phuket Airport to deal with 35 flights per hour by 2025. Digital Towers, providing sensible airport visuals and decreasing accident dangers, will initially be applied in high-traffic airports like Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Samui by 2026, adopted by distant towers in airports with decrease visitors like Narathiwat and Betong by 2027.

Monporn acknowledged that the Ministry of Transport goals to boost Thailand’s aviation capability to assist 1.2 million flights by 2025 and a pair of million by 2037. This includes adopting new applied sciences to enhance air visitors administration effectivity, aligning with the aviation trade’s development, and striving to ascertain Thailand as a regional aviation hub, consistent with authorities and transport ministry insurance policies, reported KhaoSod.