PUBLISHED: 29 Jan 2025 at 04: 45
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand ( CAAT ), the country’s aviation industry is projected to experience significant growth and resumption this year.
Thailand is expected to experience a rise of at least 25 million customers this year, according to CAAT producer Suttipong Kongpool, who predicted that the country would return to the pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
First, the aerospace industry expected a full restoration by 2024, but it fell short of expectations due to the slow transfer of Chinese customers, he said, adding this was due to a number of factors, including financial problems in China.
Based on the CAAT images, in 2019, Thailand saw a complete of 165 million people for both inbound and outbound planes of both domestic and international roads, while in 2024, the business recorded 140 million people. This marked a healing rate of 85.14 % of the pre-pandemic levels.
According to Mr. Suttipong, the growth has also been impacted by plane scarcity, and airlines have chosen to lease aircraft to help the situation.
The Transport Ministry has relaxed the rules for six months, during which time carriers are permitted to rent aircraft with staff, he noted, to ease the situation.
The International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) predicts the Thai aviation sector will grow and reach the 9th position by 2033, so the CAAT director advised concerned parties to accelerate their efforts to meet the growing air travel demand.
Now, Thai aviation ranks the 19th largest in the world.
IATA’s forecast shows a promising view for the state as an aircraft gateway, and the work needed include enhancing services, maintaining security standards, and completing facilities projects, he said. Mr Suttipong likewise provided an update on the CAAT’s activities.
In 2024, the CAAT issued operation certificates for four public airports, granted Air Operating Licences ( AOLs ) to three companies, renewed AOLs for five companies, and issued Air Operator Certificates ( AOC ) to four companies.
The company also addressed the issue of higher airfares by adding over 70, 000 seats through specific planes during the New Year’s Day, which resulted in lower airfares than the same time last year.
After Thailand was downgraded to Category 2 ( CAT 2 ) in December 2015, according to Mr. Suttipong, preparations have been made to regain the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) Category 1 ( CAT 1 ) certification.
The FAA re-assessed the downgrade after it discovered that the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) were not upheld.
He claimed that the new status had let Thai airlines to fly directly to the US and improve their frequency of flights to places like South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong, which use FAA evaluations.