Airports of Thailand to lure traffic to Don Mueang

23-Jun-2012 Intellasia | Market Watch | 7:01 AM

Airports of Thailand PCL will offer incentives to airlines to encourage them to shift operations to Bangkok’s former international airport, Don Mueang Airport, in an effort to reduce congestion at the city’s main gateway, Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Suvarnabhumi served 47.9 million passengers in 2011, surpassing its 45 million-passenger capacity. Don Mueang, on the other hand, served just 3.4 million passengers from two low-cost airlines last year, far below its 36.5 million-passenger capacity.

To address the situation, Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to upgrade Don Mueang and increase its use among low-cost carriers and for non-connecting flights.

As part of its new incentive package, AOT will waive most of its aviation-related, area rental and services fees at Don Mueang in August and September, the airports operator said in a statement late Wednesday.

It will provide a 30 percent discount on most fees from October 1 until September 2013, a 20 percent discount between October 2013 and September 2014 and a 10 percent discount between October 2014 and September 2015, the statement said.

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