Thailand seeks measures to bring down airfares

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Transport Ministry to proceed with a five-point plan to tackle the soaring prices of air tickets in the short and long term.

Deputy Transport Minister Atirat Ratanasate said the ministry has informed the PM of the measures taken and those in the pipeline to address the substantial hikes, which is due to the surge in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has looked into the causes and factors and developed its five-point plan to deal with the issue that has frustrated passengers, affecting tourism industry.

The measures include increasing ground handling capacity, relaxing rules to create flexibility for airlines, and considering a subsidy programme.

According to the CAAT, limited ground-handling capacity causes airlines to limit flights, so more ground-handling operators should be allowed. Positive incentives should be introduced to encourage airlines to return their flight slots as early as possible if they cannot operate the flights so that the slots can be reallocated.

Airlines are operating with a limited number of aircraft, so related rules could be eased to enable them to procure more aircraft to solve the seat capacity problem, the authority said.

The CAAT suggests airlines be given more flexibility regarding maintenance work carried out in other countries. When planes are serviced, the airlines' flight capacity is reduced. As a long-term measure, laws should be improved to promote investment in maintenance centres to serve the country's growing airline business. One short-term measure is to allow Thai-registered airlines to be serviced at a facility run by Thai Airways International.

Air tickets on certain routes are expensive due to low market demand or the service being provided by a single operator. The higher the airfares are, the lower the demand is. The government should consider a subsidy policy for airlines that operate flights to less popular destinations. The measure would drive demand and make these airports more attractive to investors, according to the agency.