Phuket International Airport

Phuket International Airport

ท่าอากาศยานภูเก็ต
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorAirports of Thailand
ServesPhuket
LocationMai Khao, Thalang, Phuket, Thailand
Focus city for
Operating base for
Elevation AMSL82 ft / 25 m
Coordinates08°06′47″N 098°19′00″E / 8.11306°N 98.31667°E / 8.11306; 98.31667
Websitephuket.airportthai.co.th
Maps
Map
HKT is located in Phuket
HKT
HKT
Location of Phuket Airport in Phuket
HKT is located in Thailand
HKT
HKT
Location of Phuket Airport in Thailand
HKT is located in Southeast Asia
HKT
HKT
Location of Phuket Airport in Southeast Asia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 3,000 9,843 Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2023)
Total passengers13,979,184 Increase78.88%
International passengers7,716,858 Increase144.57%
Domestic passengers6,262,326 Increase34.39%
Aircraft movements87,304 Increase 51.91%
Freight (tonnes)53,199 Increase23.1%
Sources: Airport Airports of Thailand

Phuket International Airport (IATA: HKT, ICAO: VTSP) is an international airport in Mai Khao subdistrict, Thalang district, Phuket province in southern Thailand. It is in the north of Phuket Island, 32 kilometres (20 mi) from downtown Phuket. The airport plays a major role in Thailand's tourism industry, as Phuket is a popular resort destination. It is the third-busiest airport in Thailand in terms of passengers, after Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang International Airport in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. The airport set a record 15.1 million arrivals and departures in 2016, up 17.8 percent from 2015.

Facilities

Terminals

Inside domestic terminal in 2019
Boeing 747-400 departure from Phuket Airport
a View from Mai Khao beach while the plane was landing at Phuket Airport
The airport's runway
Phuket Airport in 2010

Phuket Airport features three distinct terminals to manage its air traffic. Terminal 2 is designated for international flights, while Terminal 3 handles domestic flights. Additionally, Terminal X, specifically intended for charter flights, was opened in February 2014.

To accommodate increasing passenger traffic, Phuket Airport underwent a significant expansion and renovation project, which was completed in 2016 at a cost of 5.14 billion baht. This expansion of the new international terminal increased its capacity to handle 12.5 million passengers annually. Overall, the expansion enhanced the airport's total capacity from 6.5 million to 20 million passengers per year.

In light of the airport's congestion and limited space for further expansion, a proposal for a rail link from Krabi, an alternate location, was put forward in 2012. This suggestion aimed to alleviate the growing traffic and logistical challenges faced by Phuket Airport.

Future

A proposal for a new international airport has been put forward, aimed at serving three provinces: Phang Nga, Phuket, and Krabi. The construction of this airport is planned to be carried out in two phases. The first phase of the project was anticipated to be completed by 2025, but in 2022 the entire proposal was put on hold. The new airport was intended to function as an alternative to the existing Phuket and Krabi airports, offering additional capacity and potentially alleviating air traffic congestion in the region.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
9 Air Guangzhou, Guiyang
Aeroflot Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg
Air Arabia Seasonal: Sharjah
Air Astana Almaty
Air China Beijing–Capital, Chengdu–Tianfu, Hangzhou
Air India Delhi
Asiana Airlines Seoul–Incheon
Azur Air Seasonal charter: Barnaul, Blagoveshchensk (begins 23 April 2024), Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Vnukovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Samara, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg
Bangkok Airways Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Koh Samui
Batik Air Malaysia Kuala Lumpur–International
Cathay Pacific Hong Kong
China Eastern Airlines Chengdu–Tianfu, Kunming, Lanzhou, Nanjing, Taiyuan, Xi'an
China Southern Airlines Guangzhou
Chongqing Airlines Chongqing
Condor Frankfurt (resumes 21 September 2024)
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich
El Al Tel Aviv
Emirates Dubai–International
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi
EVA Air Taipei–Taoyuan
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Firefly Penang
GullivAir Seasonal charter: Bucharest–Otopeni, Sofia
Hainan Airlines Beijing–Capital
HK Express Hong Kong
Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong
I-Fly Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Vnukovo, Novosibirsk
Ikar Saesonal charter: Blagoveshchensk, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Samara, Surgut, Tyumen, Ulan-Ude, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (resumes 26 April 2024)
IndiGo Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai
Jetstar Melbourne, Perth (begins 6 August 2024), Sydney
Jetstar Asia Airways Singapore
Jin Air Seasonal: Seoul–Incheon
Juneyao Air Nanjing, Shanghai–Pudong
Korean Air Seoul–Incheon
Kunming Airlines Kunming
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin
Mahan Air Seasonal: Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur–International
MIAT Mongolian Airlines Seasonal: Ulaanbaatar
Myanmar Airways International Yangon
Neos Seasonal: Brno, Milan–Malpensa
Nok Air Bangkok–Don Mueang, Beijing–Capital, Chengdu–Tianfu, Hangzhou, Ubon Ratchathani
Nordwind Airlines Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Yakutsk
Okay Airways Chengdu–Tianfu
Seasonal: Hangzhou
Oman Air Muscat
Qanot Sharq Seasonal: Tashkent
Qatar Airways Doha1
Red Wings Airlines Seasonal charter: Kazan, Moscow–Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Saint Petersburg, Ufa, Yekaterinburg
Ruili Airlines Kunming
SalamAir Muscat
SCAT Airlines Seasonal charter: Almaty
Shanghai Airlines Shanghai–Pudong
Shenzhen Airlines Shenzhen
Sichuan Airlines Chengdu–Tianfu, Chongqing
Singapore Airlines Singapore
SpiceJet Seasonal charter: Surat
Spring Airlines Guangzhou, Shanghai–Pudong
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Sunday Airlines Seasonal charter: Almaty, Bishkek
Thai AirAsia Bangkok–Don Mueang, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Singapore
Thai Airways International Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi
Thai Lion Air Bangkok–Don Mueang, Bengaluru, Changsha, Hangzhou, Hefei, Mumbai, Nanjing, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin, Xian
Thai VietJet Air Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Jinan, Zhengzhou
Tigerair Taiwan Taipei–Taoyuan
TUI Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick, Manchester
Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Stockholm–Arlanda
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
VietJet Air Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
West Air Chongqing

1: This flight makes a stop at Penang. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Phuket and Penang.

Traffic statistics

Phuket is a favourite tourist destination in the region. International passengers mainly come from Asia Pacific and Europe. In 2012 it ranked second-busiest in total passenger traffic, after Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Bangkok metropolitan area. In mid-2015 the airport, designed to handle 20 flights per hour, was servicing 23 per hour.

Phuket airport handled 12.9 million passengers in 2015, 12.8 percent more than 2014, with international numbers rising 8.27 percent to 6.95 million and domestic up 18.6 percent to 5.9 million. Aircraft movements grew 11.6 percent to 84,758, with 43,996 international (up 7.63 percent) and 40,762 domestic (up 16.1 percent).

Passenger movements

Year Domestic International Total Change%
1995 1,730,895 919,503 2,650,398 Increase 9.68
1996 1,896,068 879,688 2,775,756 Increase 4.73
1997 1,898,303 942,336 2,840,639 Increase 2.34
1998 2,132,108 1,010,606 3,142,714 Increase 10.63
1999 2,035,836 1,189,895 3,225,731 Increase 2.64
2000 2,171,146 1,358,745 3,541,575 Increase 9.43
2001 2,240,264 1,370,429 3,610,693 Increase 2.29
2002 2,230,663 1,382,858 3,613,521 Increase 0.08
2003 2,104,548 1,496,401 3,600,949 Decrease 0.35
2004 2,826,022 2,024,879 4,850,901 Increase 34.71
2005 2,246,723 922,311 3,169,034 Decrease 34.67
2006 3,032,976 1,677,723 4,710,699 Increase 48.65
2007 3,513,966 2,190,399 5,704,365 Increase 21.09
2008 3,321,443 2,409,305 5,703,748 Increase 0.46
2009 3,489,012 2,290,906 5,779,918 Increase 0.86
2010 3,701,427 3,342,356 7,043,783 Increase 21.87
2011 4,097,276 4,370,719 8,467,995 Increase 20.22
2012 4,475,624 5,065,928 9,541,552 Increase 12.68
2013 4,958,880 6,383,611 11,342,491 Increase 18.87
2014 4,976,451 6,425,047 11,401,498 Increase 0.52
2015 5,909,356 6,950,000 12,859,356 Increase 12.8
2016 6,997,879 8,109,306 15,107,185 Increase 17.48
2017 7,655,579 9,200,058 16,855,637 Increase 11.6
2018 7,817,894 10,403,631 18,221,525 Increase 8.1
2019 7,452,262 10,666,178 18,118,440 Decrease 0.57
2020 2,332,349 3,155,264 5,429,708 Decrease 70.0
2021 1,502,356 287,481 1,789,837 Decrease 67.04
2022 4,659,672 3,155,264 7,814,936 Increase 336.63%
2023 6,262,326 7,716,858 13,979,184 Increase 78.88%

Aircraft movements

Year Domestic International Total Change%
1995 11,135 9,380 20,515 Increase 6.79
1996 11,586 9,626 21,212 Increase 3.40
1997 11,402 10,257 21,659 Increase 2.11
1998 9,673 10,272 19,945 Decrease 7.91
1999 9,391 11,887 21,278 Increase 6.68
2000 11,850 11,472 23,322 Increase 9.61
2001 12,705 12,467 25,172 Increase 7.93
2002 10,920 12,248 23,168 Decrease 7.96
2003 12,669 12,015 24,684 Increase 6.54
2004 16,765 15,917 32,682 Increase 32.40
2005 14,115 9,970 24,085 Decrease 26.30
2006 17,207 13,680 30,887 Increase 28.24
2007 23,915 16,884 40,799 Increase 32.09
2008 20,814 17,177 37,991 Decrease 6.88
2009 20,883 16,987 37,870 Decrease 0.32
2010 25,311 23,257 48,568 Increase 28.25
2011 27,932 28,741 56,673 Increase 16.69
2012 28,578 32,426 61,004 Increase 7.64
2013 32,370 40,219 72,589 Increase 18.99
2014 35,096 40,878 75,974 Increase 4.66
2015 40,762 43,996 84,758 Increase 16.1
2016 48,883 48,930 97,813 Increase 15.4
2017 52,609 53,484 106,093 Increase 8.5
2018 54,514 63,766 118,280 Increase 11.49
2019 50,409 65,167 115,576 Decrease 2.29
2020 25,505 13,343 38,848 Decrease 66.4
2021 14,347 4,177 18,524 Decrease 52.32
2022 36,033 21,436 57,469 Increase 57,469
2023 44,080 43,224 87,304 Increase 51.91

Freight tonnage

Year Domestic International Total Change%
1995 5,659 5,021 10,680 Increase 198.16
1996 7,994 5,620 13,614 Increase 27.47
1997 8,285 7,522 15,807 Increase 16.11
1998 8,213 7,683 15,896 Increase 0.56
1999 10,963 11,455 22,418 Increase 41.03
2000 9,841 11,091 20,932 Decrease 6.63
2001 9,345 9,651 18,996 Decrease 9.25
2002 10,352 12,855 23,207 Increase 22.17
2003 10,866 12,338 23,204 Increase 0.01
2004 13,382 14,659 28,041 Increase 20.85
2005 12,306 6,425 18,731 Decrease 33.20
2006 13,384 4,729 18,113 Decrease 3.30
2007 13,268 6,452 19,720 Increase 8.87
2008 12,671 6,535 19,206 Decrease 2.61
2009 13,195 7,780 20,975 Increase 9.21
2010 17,434 12,810 30,244 Increase 44.19
2011 17,627 10,687 28,314 Decrease 6.38
2012 18,798 15,541 34,339 Increase 21.28
2013 17,234 17,386 34,620 Increase 0.82
2014 17,653 22,631 40,284 Increase 16.36
2015 14,552 22,822 37,374 Decrease 7.22
2016 14,676 28,538 43,214 Decrease 5.73
2017 15,670 37,529 53,990 Increase 23.1
2018 15,864 46,274 62,138 Increase 15.09
2019 11,592 41,120 52,712 Decrease 15.17
2020 4,429 10,797 11,904 Decrease 78.1
2021 2,111 2,098 4,209 Decrease 64.64
2022 3,152 3,391 6,543 Decrease 68.37
2023 4,699 27,518 32,217 Increase 330.71

Busiest international routes

Busiest international routes to and from Phuket International Airport (2019)
Rank Airport Passengers handled Change%
1 Singapore Singapore 1,052,635 Decrease 0.58%
2 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 871,584 Increase 1.00%
3 China Shanghai–Pudong 760,864 Decrease 1.64%
4 Hong Kong Hong Kong 642,904 Decrease 4.57%
5 China Chengdu 546,908 Increase 32.49%
6 South Korea Seoul–Incheon 461,967 Increase 6.57%
7 Qatar Doha 422,087 Increase 23.08%
8 China Beijing-Capital 412,213 Increase 4.58%
9 United Arab Emirates Dubai-International 367,967 Decrease 13.90%
10 Russia Moscow-Sheremetyevo 362,977 Increase 11.53%

Busiest domestic routes

Busiest domestic routes to and from Phuket Airport (2019)
Rank Airport Passengers handled Change%
1 Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi 3,371,171 Increase 0.29%
2 Bangkok–Don Mueang 3,005,310 Decrease 9.86%
3 Chiang Mai 415,771 Decrease 12.23%
4 Rayong-Pattaya-U-Tapao 165,992 Increase 4.58%
5 Koh Samui 154,242 Decrease 10.97%

Phuket Airport passenger totals (millions)

Annual passenger traffic at HKT airport. See Wikidata query.

Incidents and accidents

  • 15 April 1985: A Thai Airways Company Boeing 737-200 (registered HS-TBB) crashed, killing all 11 people on board. The crew had issued a radio call informing air traffic control that both engines had flamed out. No cause could be determined for the engine shutdown.
  • 31 August 1987: Thai Airways Flight 365, a Boeing 737-200 (registered HS-TBC) from Hat Yai International Airport crashed into the ocean upon final approach, killing all 83 people on board. The investigation determined pilot error as the primary cause.
  • 16 September 2007: One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 arriving on a scheduled flight from Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport crashed after hitting the runway while attempting to land in driving rain and severe wind shear. The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registered HS-OMG) slid off the runway, split into two, and exploded into flames after an apparent attempt to execute a go-around moments before touchdown. There were 123 passengers and seven crew on board; 89 died and 40 were injured.[citation needed]

This page was last updated at 2024-03-27 01:08 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari