Suttipong Kongpool, director-general of CAAT, stated that there were 25,256 flights overall in February of this year.
In certain weeks, he said, there had been more flights than there had been before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, in large part because of the government’s decision to lift travel restrictions in July of last year.
Suttipong noted that once China lifted its travel restrictions on January 8 of this year, 19 Chinese airlines asked for authorization to operate flights to Thailand.
According to him, 9 Air and Xiamen Airlines have asked permission to conduct both scheduled and non-scheduled flights, while China’s Kunming Airlines has requested to operate flights at various Thai airports.
He continued by saying that Chengdu Airlines has asked to only run unscheduled flights.
From February 14 to March 25, “Air China will fly flights on the Beijing-Chiang Mai route every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday,” he declared.
From March 1 to 24, China Southern Airlines will run flights on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Thai aviation is soaring as demand for flight slots surges, driven in large part by Chinese airlines.
He stated that Hainan Airlines had asked for authorization to run flights daily between Beijing and Suvarnabhumi Airport from February 15 to March 25.
From February 24 to March 24, he added, “The airline has also asked to run flights on the Beijing-Phuket route every Wednesday and Friday, as well as the Guangzhou-Phuket route every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.”
According to Suttipong, the CAAT had given Chinese airlines 1,910 flight slots, including 269 in January, 671 in February, and 970 in March.
Chinese airlines have received up to 500 flight slots at Suvarnabhumi Airport, followed by Don Mueang (684), Phuket (476), Chiang Mai (197), Samui (27) and U-Tapao (26), he noted.
