News Analysis
PHUKET: The single runway at Phuket International Airport has become so busy that no additional flights can be added between April 1 and April 22, Phuketwan has learned.
One proposal for extra flights by budget airline AirAsia has been turned down because flights into and out of Phuket have reached maximum daily levels, says a well-placed source at the airport.
With more than one million passengers arriving and departing in January and again in February, and the ''No Vacancy'' sign going up in April, questions are now being asked about Phuket's tourism future.
Phuket International Airport is the main piece of infrastructure for Phuket tourism. If that gateway has reached capacity, what happens next?
It's understood that while some experimental flights now land at Krabi airport and transport passengers by road to Phuket, feedback from tourists has not been positive because of the extra travel time.
Construction work is proceeding on a new international terminal and car park for Phuket. But the ''expanded'' airport will still have only one runway.
The project is expected to boost Phuket's handling capacity to 12.5 million tourists.
However, it's plain that this is more about the comfort of the visitors and the speed of their processing in or out than about catering to any increase in tourist numbers.
Three years of remarkable accelleration have boosted Phuket's annual air passenger tally to 9.5 million in 2012.
The surge of 13 percent last year followed annual increases of 21.66 percent in 2010 and 20.25 percent in 2011.
The question that's most important for Phuket's future now is not where passengers are coming from, but how they will get here. Once the airport's maximum capacity has been reached, that's anybody's guess.
And if Phuket airport has no slots available for additional flights between April 1 and April 22 this year, the spaces in high season are probably all gone, with low season rapidly filling up.
The time is fast approaching when all slots will be taken between January 1 and December 31.
This is a remarkable achievement. Phuket has overcome the setback of the disastrous 2004 tsunami to achieve a prominent place among the world's best-known holiday destinations.
Encouraging visitors to come from one particular country is actually counter-productive. Phuket's success has been based on its appeal in a variety of nations.
This wonderful diversity makes Phuket tourism stronger and more capable of resilience if economic conditions damage one or even two markets.
Phuket does not need more Russians, Chinese or Australians. Indeed, pleas for visitors from any single country are clearly based on self-interest.
Diversity is what drives Phuket and its future. Phuket needs more people from new, developing markets to strengthen its resistance to future downturns. India and the Middle East spring to mind.
The immense attraction of brand Phuket - ''unbelievable'' is the word our airport source used - makes Phuket a runaway success. Sadly, it is not a runway success.
If the first third of 2013 is any guide, Phuket will burst through the 10 million passengers barrier effortlessly this year.
Reaching the capacity of 12.5 million could even take place years before the new international terminal and carport open in late 2015 or early 2016.
What happens then? Airports of Thailand, which manages Phuket International Airport, cannot expand Phuket airport any further. When the new facilities are opened, that will be it.
Phuket has to look carefully at its ''carrrying capacity.'' This is something many people in Phuket's tourism bodies are coming to understand.
Phuket needs to carefully balance the number of tourists with its natural attributes. The point has just about been reached where the maximum number of tourists that Phuket can sustain has been achieved.
Next: How Phuket Compares With Bali, and Why Bali is Losing the Plot
LGW handles some 35 million pax per year.... with a single runway.... So what's the fuss.
Posted by Geraint Lewis on March 21, 2013 18:32
Editor Comment:
That's great for LGW . . . wherever that is.