AOT warns revenue will take another hit from domestic flight ban
Airports of Thailand (AOT) warned on Tuesday that the ban issued on domestic flights for Dark Red provinces would cause the company’s revenue to plunge further.
Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, AOT president, said the suspension of all domestic flights to and from 13 Dark Red-zone provinces from Wednesday would hit both passenger and flight volumes, especially for Bangkok’s Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports.
“In mid-July, the volume of passengers at six airports dropped to an average of 10,000 per day – an 80 per cent contraction year on year,” he said, adding that this issue was a serious problem.
The decline in the number of passengers and flights had affected the company’s revenue and expenditure, he added. As a result, the company's turnover has fallen from nearly 80 billion baht before the pandemic to 21 billion baht, said Nitinai.
“Although expenditure was reduced by the closure of airport construction camps to curb Covid-19 infections in line with government measures, the company expects to face a possible liquidity shortage from July next year,” he said.
The AOT board recently approved moves for up to 25 billion baht in borrowing, but Nitinai said the company would evaluate the situation over the coming season to see how much it needed to borrow.
“The precise [figures of the] loan plan will be available by October this year,” he said.
