Airports of Thailand (AOT) is being urged to discount its airport fees and build a terminal for low cost carriers at Suvarnabhumi Airport in a bid to get airlines to return to the Kingdom, as well as to help restore the tourism sector.
Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said the airline is planning to write to AOT early next month, calling on the agency to give a 50percent discount on airport services at a time when the country needs to reclaim airlines back to the country, following the recent closures of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.
Tassapon said the company was paying Bt30 millionBt40 million per month in fees to AOT."If AOT AOT will in turn gain more benefits," Tassapon said. could give more incentives to us, then we can sell lowerprice tickets and, when more tourists come to Thailand,
Tony Fernandes, group CEO of parent company AirAsia, said in Bangkok yesterday that Thailand needed to have a dedicated terminal for lowcost carriers. He said Singapore and Hong Kong had already built their own.
"If Thailand wants to stay competitive, it should have a lowcost terminal," he said.
According to Tassapon, Thai AirAsia estimates it will carry 4.1 million passengers this year, down from the targeted 4.7 million due to the eightday closure of Bangkok's commercial airports. The airport closures caused AirAsia to cancel 160 daily flights in and out of Bangkok.Meanwhile, in a bid rebuild inbound tourism, AirAsia and the Touris m Authority of Thailand yesterday announced a regional campaign called "Get Your Baht to Thailand " by offering 100,000 free AirAsia seats into and out of the Kingdom, as well as on all domestic routes.
Passengers can book the tickets from today until Friday, for travel between January 6 and March 31.
The cost of the promotion is Bt300 million, of which Bt200 million is for the fares and the rest for advertising and activities.
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