Phuket airport sees increase in domestic arrivals over long weekend

The general manager of Phuket airport, Thanee Chuangchoo, says domestic arrivals were on the up over the course of the recent 4 day holiday. The long weekend, from September 4 to 7, was brought in to replace the annual Songkran holiday in April, cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The jump in domestic arrivals will have provided some relief, albeit temporary, to a province struggling to survive the Covid-19 fallout.

“During the 4-day holiday, the number of arrivals per day surpassed the 10,000 mark. The highest, 10,133, was on Sept 4, with all 85 flights fully loaded. It’s heartening to see that Thai people still want to make a tour to Phuket.”

For the sake of comparison, Thanee says that during the month of August, around 6,000 domestic passengers landed in Phuket each day. The airport is currently served by a number of domestic carriers, including Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai VietJet Air, Bangkok Airways, and Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways.

Yesterday, the airport held a dress rehearsal, in preparation for an eventual re-opening to foreign tourists. However, there is no official confirmation yet as to when that might happen.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post