[Expat]

TOURISM SLUMP: Landing fees waived at Phuket to boost flights
Airport fees also cut in Krabi to help boost new arrivals

PHUKET: -- Airlines using Phuket and Krabi airports would be temporarily exempted from paying landing fees under a Tourism and Sports Ministry proposal designed to attract flights back to the tsunami-hit southwestern coast.

“The cancellation of landing fees at the two airports would be a good way to rebuild tourism in Phuket and Krabi as well as the Andaman Coast,” Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters yesterday.

He did not say when the Cabinet was expected to consider the proposal.

Since the tsunami hit Phuket in December, the number of flights has nosedived to 35 per week, compared to 192 during the last low season. Ten charter companies have stopped servicing the island.

The two airports charge Bt60,000 or Bt120,000 per landing, depending on the size of the aircraft.

Somsak said he wanted the airports to drop the fee until the end of this year. The travel business in other Andaman areas such as Phi Phi and Phang Nga has also hit rock bottom.

During last year’s peak season Phuket airport welcomed 365 scheduled flights a week from five international and six domestic airlines, as well as 24 charter flights a month.

Low season always sees the frequency of regular flights cut almost in half.

Phuket International Airport is managed by Airports of Thailand, while Krabi Airport is run by the Aviation Department.

Earlier, hotels, airlines, tour operators and related businesses asked the government to reduce landing fees at Phuket and Krabi airports as a partial subsidy for airline operations.

Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, suggested the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand call the Andaman coast something different, for example using

each individual province’s name instead.

The country needs to distance itself from the Andaman image, which is still tinged with the risk of tsunamis, he said.

A member of the Thai Hotels Association has asked the ministry to launch a new national tourism campaign to woo international tourists, following up on the
successful Visit Thailand Year and Amazing Thailand efforts.

--The Nation 2005-06-09