Thailand’s air passenger and air freight sector after the pandemic
Despite strong headwinds due to COVID-19 travel restrictions that limited international air travel between early 2020 and mid-2022, the Thai passenger aviation industry is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, as global travel restrictions have been lifted. The total number of flights in Thailand in 2022 already showed an increase, compared to the previous year. The return of Chinese tourists to Thailand will be another important factor in the air passenger sector’s recovery, as the Chinese government has permitted its citizens to travel again in 2023. Before the lockdown in 2020, Chinese arrivals amounted to the highest number of international visitors in Thailand in 2019The Thai air freight sector is integral to the country's logistics and transportation industry. With its strategic location at the crossroads of Southeast Asia, Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok has become a central air freight hub in the region, handling a significant amount of air cargo for both domestic and international destinations. The country's strong manufacturing sector, including industries such as automotive and electronics, has also driven demand for air freight services. However, economic uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine impacted the air freight volume in Thailand in 2022. Furthermore, the rising COVID-19 cases in China in 2022 resulted in further disruptions in supply chains, contributing to the decline of air freight volume in that year.
