Airport passenger traffic jumps 17pc

PHUKET: Heartening news for the low season comes with the latest monthly figures issued by the Phuket International Airport. These show a 17.04% rise in passengers arriving at and departing from the airport, compared with May 1999. The statistics show that 245,634 passengers went through the airport, compared with 209,876 last May. Due mostly to an increase in the number of direct flights to and from Phuket, the number of passengers on domestic flights decreased by 14.65% to 157,693, while international traffic rose 21.58% to 87,941. On the other hand, cargo throughput during the month decreased significantly compared with May last year. International shipments decreased 19.53% to 651 tons, while domestic shipments fell 2.35% to 582 tons.