Airline flight capacity is up, Thai tourism officials hopeful
Airline flight capacity has shot up, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. The aviation authority said that seat capacity from October to March next year went up by 74.2%, to 573,538 seats per week from the summer schedule.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is aiming to achieve the government’s goal of 1.5 trillion baht in revenue from 10 million foreign and domestic tourists, according to TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
Yuthasak said that TAT hopes the increased seat capacity will eventually help reduce airfare, the Bangkok Post reported. He said that TAT will now work with airlines to ensure that at least 80% of seats are occupied. He noted that TAT is targeting markets most impacted by high gas prices, such as Europe.
Tourists from Europe currently spend an average of 70,000 baht per trip. TAT wants to boost this to 75,000-80,000 baht per trip.
Last month, a Thai government spokesperson announced that over five million foreign tourists arrived in the ‘Land of Smiles’ between January 1 and September 8.
TAT said the biggest group of tourists came from Malaysia, with 751,397 arrivals. Up next was India, with 480,825 arrivals. In third place was Laos, with 310,464 arrivals. Cambodia sent the fourth most tourists to Thailand, with a total of 249,084 arrivals.
Last week, Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that Kazakh and Uzbek tourists started to show an interest in visiting Thailand, after the country extended its Visa on Arrival from 15 to 30 days on October 1.
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