Passengers using Hat Yai Airport up sharply

SONGKHLA, August 25 (TNA) - Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) says that the number of passengers using the Hat Yai Airport in Thailand's southern Songkhla province is expected to increase to about 1.97 million at the end of the current fiscal year on September 2012, up 5.5 per cent from the 2011 fiscal year. AOT President Flying Officer Anirut Thanomkulbutra told reporters of the update Saturday, as the Hat Yai Airport celebrates its 24th anniversary on August 26. Anirut acknowledged that the expected increase in passengers using the Hat Yai Airport is due to the beefed-up security measures at the airport, following continual violence in the Thai far South. According to the AOT chief, the stepped-up security measures at and around the Hat Yai Airport plus cooperation from related agencies have supported the airport to cater Thai Muslims preparing to perform their annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia's Mecca holy city later this year. During the 2012 fiscal year so far, from October 2011 to July 2012, a total of 12,136 flights had used the Hat Yai Airport, an increase of 6.49 per cent from the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapha has ordered reinforcements totaling 1,500 border patrol policemen to help restore peace in the Thai deep South. General Yuthasak told journalists that he was optimistic that state security officers could work with more flexibility and the situation in the restive South should improve after a new government unit responsible for solving unrest in the region is formed, and that the government forces have been ordered to be special alert although the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan has ended. (TNA)