Thailand’s domestic air travel hit hard by COVID-19

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Bangkok (VNA) – Figures drawn from 20 airports across Thailand showed that domestic air travel plunged since the start of the year due to COVID-19, announced the Department of Airports (DoA).

In Thailand, both domestic and international fights last year dropped 55 percent to 464,944, from 1.04 million in the year before.

Domestic passengers passing through the 20 airports also dropped by 60 percent from an average 30,000 a day before the New Year to 12,000.

Before the long New Year holiday, 160 flights operated into and out of the airports on average each day. After the holiday, flights were down 40 percent to 100 per day on average.

Meanwhile, Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn on January 11 said he had proposed a plan to allow foreigners to quarantine in some of the country's many golf resorts.

The ministry is discussing with the Ministry of Public Health and the country's COVID-19 taskforce to offer hotel and golf quarantine for tourists with medical certificates, he said.

Foreign tourists would be able to spend a two-week quarantine period at a specified resort and move around in the hotel area and also play golf, rather than just isolating in their rooms, he added.

The plan, which is subject to the approval of the cabinet, comes as the Southeast Asian country is grappling with a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Thailand has so far reported more than 10,500 COVID-19 infections and 67 deaths./.