The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) reports that the country’s aviation industry is still moving in a downward trajectory, due to uncertainty over the COVID-19 outbreak among Thai and foreign tourists.
The CAAT said the volume of passengers and flights, in the second quarter of this year, fell by 35.5% and 27.8% year on year, respectively. Many negative sentiments put pressure on the aviation industry, such as the slow vaccination rate and sluggish recovery in the tourism sector’s recovery.
The agency added that the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand this year is expected to drop to 700,000 people and 10 million people next year, compared to the previous forecast of 3 million this year and 21.5 million next.
The CAAT does not expect the aviation industry to recover significantly this year, as the COVID-19 crisis intensifies, while Thailand has imposed travel restrictions which directly affect the tourism sector. Airports of Thailand also said that in July the six airports saw 10,000 travellers per day, down 80% cent year on year. (NNT)