Passenger traffic through Thailand’s six main airports in January hit 5.47m, a historic monthly high, says the Airports of Thailand Plc. The surge was thanks to the global economic recovery, reduced political unrest and peak travel demand.

Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) management are scratching their heads as to why Suvarnabhumi Airport failed to secure a top spot as one of the world’s best in the latest polling. It will seek external expert advice to determine what went wrong and vows to work even harder to ensure that Suvarnabhumi climbs the customer satisfaction survey conducted by the Genevabased Airports Council International (ACI). Suvarnabhumi ranked 24th in the 2009 ACI polling, up from 38th in 2008 and 48th in 2007, its first full year of operation.

The 10 largest passenger airlines at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday signed an agreement with Airports of Thailand Plc that entitles them to landing-fee rebates for carrying more international passengers. Signatories of the agreement include Thai Airways International, Thai AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

The Airports of Thailand, Thailand’s top airport operator posted a net profit of Bt717.26m for its fiscal 2009 ending Sep 30, 2009. For fiscal 4Q09, net loss came in at Bt752.39m, nearly doubling our loss forecast of Bt347.75m. (SET)

The Airports of Thailand, Thailand’s top airport operator said in a filing to the stock exchange yesterday that it received a statement of claim from the Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI), in which a joint venture led by the Italian-Thai Development (ITD) demanded it to pay Bt7,070.69m and 568.77m plus interests in compensation in connection with construction contracts of passenger terminal building and concourse at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. (SET)

Don Mueang Airport could be reopened to full services as a second airport in Bangkok for economic reasons, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said yesterday. On the opening day of a two-day conference organised by Krungthep Turakij newspaper entitled “Thailand Tomorrow”, Korn said Don Mueang – which had been in service for more than 90 years before the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport – could be reopened to compete with the new facility.

Airports of Thailand says its investments over the next five years should cost less than a projected Bt80b due to a decline in construction costs. President Serirat Prasutanond said the company would conclude its investment plans in November, mostly covering the expansion of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, including a domestic terminal and a third runway.

AoT boss Serirat Prasutanond is caught in the crossfire of cronyism allegations involving a leading banker’s son being appointed to a senior position with the organisation. Disgruntled staff say there have been attempts to sneak an “unqualified candidate” into a top job -attempts that have stirred up strong resistance among officials at Airports of Thailand Plc, an executive source in the agency said.