Airport throughput still falling

PHUKET: Year-on-year figures for January show a fall of almost 10% in the number of passengers passing through Phuket International Airport. December’s figures were also lower, down by 3.32% compared with December 2000. Travel in and out of Phuket and to most destinations around the world has continued to decline since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Statistics released by airport officials show that overall passenger throughput for January dipped 9.57% to 360,507 passengers this year, compared with 398,662 last year. The number of passengers using international flights totaled 138,051, a drop of 13.82%, while the number using domestic flights also decreased, by 6.72%, to 222,456. In contrast, international cargo throughput for January was up 4.79% to 1,982 tons. Domestic shipments fell to 1,126 tons, down 8.82%. December shipments as a whole, compared with December 2000, rose 13.16% to 2,553 tons.