THAILAND. Airports of Thailand Co (AoT) yesterday became the latest Asian airport authority to assist its retail tenants and airlines.
It said that it will reduce airport fees and extend payment deadlines for operators to help cushion them from the impact of SARS. King Power International is the exclusive duty free retailer at Bangkok and other international airports in Thailand.
AoT acting managing director Bancha Patanaporn said after a board meeting yesterday that the airport fee charged to operators who were subject to minimum guarantees would be reduced by 10-20%.
The payment deadline for aircraft parking fees would also be extended from one month to three months to ease the operators’ cashflow worries brought on by the SARS crisis.
The number of foreign passengers passing through the country’s international airports reached 911,401 between April 1 and 20, a decline of -39.57% from about 1.5 million in the corresponding period last year.
Of that number, arriving passengers dropped by -39.97% from 686,264 to 411,952 and departing passengers plunged by -41.28% from 732,450 to 430,085. Passengers in transit declined by -22.43% from 89,418 to 69,364.
During the same period, the number of international flights visiting AoT airports dropped by -7.04% on a yearly basis from 8,788 to 8,169.
