THAILAND. The board of Airports of Thailand (AOT) has confirmed further relief measures for concession partners hit by the impact of COVID-19 cross its six-airport network.
AOT had already introduced a -20% reduction in fixed monthly concession charges from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021. With board approval today, these measures will now be extended until 31 March 2022, with some variance (dependent on passenger traffic) at different locations.
The -20% reduction in fixed concession charges applies to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport, Phuket International Airport and Chiang Mai International Airport. A -15% reduction in fixed concession charges applies to Hat Yai International Airport and Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai International Airport.
In September AOT said that the assistance measures for concessionaires and airlines are expected to cause a -42.35% decline in 2021 revenue, compared to fiscal 2020. The above extension of these measures will, it estimated, cause a -0.006% decline in revenue in fiscal year 2021 and a -0.001% decline in revenue in fiscal year 2022, compared to the previous forecast.
As reported, AOT said that it expects traffic across its six airports to reach 2019 levels by fiscal year 2023. For fiscal 2021 (to 30 September next year) AOT anticipates serving 47.91 million passengers. In fiscal 2022, passenger traffic should rise to 110.88 million, before exceeding the 2091 figure of 141.8 million by 2023. The total passenger volume handled by AOT airports in fiscal 2020 was 72.64 million, a -48.8% decrease compared to 2019.
