Don Mueang hub off to flying start
Bangkok’s Don Mueang kept its lead as the fastest-growing airport in Asia-Pacific to start the year.
The century-old airport, code-named DMK, recorded a 46.7% jump in passenger traffic in January, according to the latest monitoring by Airports Council International (ACI).
The airport registered a 30.8% rise for the whole of last year, also the highest growth rate in the region (including the Middle East), driven by surging low-cost carrier traffic.
In terms of growth rate in January, Don Mueang was followed by Bangalore (28.1%), Jeju (24.8%), Kuwait (22.2%), Abu Dhabi (20.7%) and Doha (18%).
ACI did not provide Don Mueang’s passenger throughput in January, but figures from Airports of Thailand Plc show a volume of 2.32 million along with aircraft movements of 17,945, up 21.42%.
The low-cost hub finished last year by handling 19.4 million passengers and 172,681 aircraft take-offs and landings, up 19.4% from 2013.
The airport’s passenger throughput is expected to grow by 31.8% for the whole of 2015 to reach 27.6 million, said Don Mueang general manager Songsak Tongtang.
The airport is now served by 15 international airlines offering scheduled flights connecting 24 Thai cities and 33 destinations in 14 countries.
According to ACI, Asia-Pacific airports saw an average growth rate of 4.9% in passenger traffic for January, while Middle Eastern airports posted 11.4% growth.
The reporting airports showed mixed results. Among the top 10 busiest airports in the region, half showed positive growth while the rest reported a decrease in traffic from last year.
In Asia, Beijing continued to lead as the busiest airport in the region, serving close to 7 million passengers in January.
New Delhi followed with 17.5% growth and is likely to surpass 40 million by the end of 2015.
In terms of air freight traffic for the month, Asia-Pacific reported growth of 3.4%.
Among the leading cargo airports in the region, Tokyo’s Haneda reported the highest growth from last year with 21.4%.
The Middle East continued to deliver strong growth at 9.6%, with several airports reporting double-digit growth.