Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has rebuffed a request from low cost carriers to cut airport fees.
AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said there was no business case to reduce fees at the busiest Thai airports as traffic is close to full capacity.
"How could I justify to the shareholders such a reduction at the main airports, whose full capacity has been reached and which don’t really need to attract more traffic?” Nitinai said.
He was referring to the busiest airports under its control which include Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
However Nitinai said discounts could be possible at underused Chiang Rai and Hat Yai airports.
He was responding to a request made last week by AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes, again asked for AoT to cut passenger service charges.
Even a small cut in fees would make a big difference, Fernandes said.
Fernandes cited the fees at KLIA2, Kuala Lumpur’s low cost terminal, which are about half the cost of Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport.
