National—
At 9:30 AM, on February 20th, 2024, Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, the Thai Minister of Transport, gave an interview before the Cabinet meeting regarding the issue of some airline passengers criticizing that ticket prices for Bangkok-Phuket flights were too high.
Suriya stated that the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), responsible for setting the fare ceiling for airlines, investigated the claim that Bangkok-Phuket flight tickets were too expensive.
Upon investigation, it was found that the flight tickets were roughly 10,000 baht for a round trip. However, for low-cost carriers, the average price should not exceed 5,000 baht per flight. This amount of 5,000 baht was established as a formula in a calculation set by CAAT.
Suriya reportedly issued an order to the Director-General of the CAAT to consider adjusting the formula to reduce the fare ceiling, as the current formula included fuel costs.
With the recent decrease in oil prices from the previous 100 US dollars per barrel, the CAAT would need to invite representatives from various airlines for discussions to determine how much the burden on passengers could be reduced.
The actual price reduction would have to wait until after these discussions. Suriya reportedly asserted that fare reductions would be implemented before the Songkran Festival.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
