Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport expects 130,000 daily passengers this month

In December, 130,000 passengers are expected to pass through Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok every day, according to Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob.

The airport facilitated daily traffic of around 115,000 passengers in November as tourists returned for the High Season, said Saksayam.

Tourism always spikes in the festive month of December but should continue to rise afterward as Chinese tourists are expected to return to the kingdom early next year, no later than March, according to the transport minister.

After an inspection of the airport, Minister Saksayam insists that immigration is ready for the uptick in traffic. He says that passport procedures have been streamlined and the average queue time is 15 minutes per arrival.

Immigration can process 3,000 passengers in 20 minutes and immigration officials take an average of one minute to process each foreign arrival, said Saksayam.

Commander of the Immigration Bureau Pol. Maj. Gen. Choengron Rimphadee previously reported that officials spend just 45 seconds checking the passport data, visa status, personal biometric data, and blacklist status of each arrival.

The transport minister said passengers on any flight have to wait no longer than 30 minutes to pick up their luggage at Suvarnabhumi Airport. This presents quite the turnaround from last week when Saksayam gave Thai Airways, and Bangkok Airways a stern warning to fix the problem of delayed luggage or else.

If the airport was really prepared to handle so many arrivals, it’s unclear why Thailand would advise Indians to obtain a visa from their local Thai embassy or consulatebeforeo flying to avoid queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport – rather than obtain a visa on arrival as is their right.

China’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions will have a big impact on airport traffic. Before the pandemic, tourism made up a fifth of Thailand’s economy, with Chinese tourists comprising 28% of foreign arrivals. But the Chinese are no longer ranking in the top five nationalities visiting Thailand thanks to Beijing’s ceaseless Covid-zero policy.

Economists predict that the value of the Thai baht will shoot upward once Chinese tourists return to the kingdom. In fact, the baht is already appreciating somewhat just from China teasing that the rules could ease up soon.

Despite all the number of talks, Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the country should focus on attracting “high-end travellers, rather than a large number of visitors.”