The chief executive officer, Kirati Kitmanawat, said on Tuesday (Nov 21) that all six airports operated by AoT showed better performance in the just concluded fiscal year as the post COVID-19 situation improved and the aviation and tourism sectors began recovering, reports the Bangkok Post.
AoT operates Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Hat Yai airports. The fiscal year runs from October to the end of September.
In fiscal 2023, the six airports served 639,891 flights, up 62.22% year-on-year, handling 100.06 million passengers, up by 114.31%, Mr Kirati said.
"In 2023, we had 100mn passengers. In 2019, before COVID, there were 120mn passengers. We expect the number will be close [to the pre-COVID amount] in 2024," the AoT CEO said.
The visa-free scheme of the government for the high season was raising the number of visitors. Mr Kirati said numbers rose from 13,000 to 16,000 a day for Chinese visitors, from 230 to 500 a day for Kazakhs, from 5,000 to 6,000 a day for Indians and from 3,000 to 4,500 a day for Taiwanese visitors.
He said AoT was developing its six airports to support tourism growth. A third runway would be opened at Suvarnabhumi next year, lifting its capacity from the current 68 flights an hour to 94 flights an hour.
From 2024 to 2029, AoT planned to invest B96bn in airport development, Mr Kirati said.