# Phuket International Airport

Phuket International Airport (IATA: HKT, ICAO: VTSP) is an international airport serving the island of Phuket and its province in southern Thailand. It is located 32 km (20 mi) north of downtown Phuket in the Mai Khao subdistrict of Thalang district. 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 of 15.1 million arrivals and departures in 2016, up 17.8 percent from 2015.

## Facilities
### Terminals

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

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aeroflot | Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg |
| AirAsia | Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Air Arabia | Seasonal: Sharjah |
| Air Astana | Almaty, Astana |
| Air China | Beijing–Capital, Chengdu–Tianfu, Hangzhou |
| Air India | Delhi |
| Air India Express | Hyderabad |
| Azur Air | Seasonal charter: Barnaul, Chelyabinsk, Chita, 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, Pattaya |
| Batik Air Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Cathay Pacific | Hong Kong |
| China Eastern Airlines | Chengdu–Tianfu, Kunming, Nanjing, Xi'an |
| China Southern Airlines | Guangzhou |
| Condor | Frankfurt |
| Edelweiss Air | Seasonal: Zurich |
| El Al | Tel Aviv |
| Emirates | Dubai–International |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
| Finnair | Seasonal: Helsinki |
| Firefly | Penang |
| GullivAir | Seasonal charter: Bucharest–Otopeni, Sofia |
| GX Airlines | Jinan |
| Hainan Airlines | Beijing–Capital |
| HK Express | Hong Kong |
| Hong Kong Airlines | Hong Kong |
| Ikar | Seasonal charter: Blagoveshchensk, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Samara, Surgut, Tyumen, Ulan-Ude, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk |
| IndiGo | Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai |
| Indonesia AirAsia | Denpasar |
| Jetstar | Melbourne, Perth, Sydney |
| Jetstar Asia | 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: Milan–Malpensa Seasonal charter: Bratislava, Brno, Ostrava |
| Nok Air | Bangkok–Don Mueang, Chengdu–Tianfu |
| Nordwind Airlines | Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Yakutsk |
| Okay Airways | Changsha, Chengdu–Tianfu Seasonal: Hangzhou |
| Oman Air | Muscat |
| Qanot Sharq | Seasonal: Tashkent |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| Red Wings Airlines | Seasonal charter: Kazan, Moscow–Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Yekaterinburg |
| S7 Airlines | Irkutsk |
| SalamAir | Muscat |
| Saudia | Jeddah, Riyadh |
| SCAT Airlines | Seasonal charter: Almaty |
| Scoot | Singapore |
| Shanghai Airlines | Shanghai–Pudong |
| Shenzhen Airlines | Shenzhen |
| Sichuan Airlines | Chengdu–Tianfu, Chongqing |
| Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
| 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, Chennai, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Kochi (begins 11 April 2025), Kolkata, Siem Reap, Singapore, Udon Thani |
| Thai Airways International | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi |
| Thai Lion Air | Bangkok–Don Mueang, Zhengzhou Charter: Taichung |
| Thai VietJet Air | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, 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 |

## Traffic statistics

Phuket is a favorite 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 | 9.68 |
| 1996 | 1,896,068 | 879,688 | 2,775,756 | 4.73 |
| 1997 | 1,898,303 | 942,336 | 2,840,639 | 2.34 |
| 1998 | 2,132,108 | 1,010,606 | 3,142,714 | 10.63 |
| 1999 | 2,035,836 | 1,189,895 | 3,225,731 | 2.64 |
| 2000 | 2,171,146 | 1,358,745 | 3,541,575 | 9.43 |
| 2001 | 2,240,264 | 1,370,429 | 3,610,693 | 2.29 |
| 2002 | 2,230,663 | 1,382,858 | 3,613,521 | 0.08 |
| 2003 | 2,104,548 | 1,496,401 | 3,600,949 | 0.35 |
| 2004 | 2,826,022 | 2,024,879 | 4,850,901 | 34.71 |
| 2005 | 2,246,723 | 922,311 | 3,169,034 | 34.67 |
| 2006 | 3,032,976 | 1,677,723 | 4,710,699 | 48.65 |
| 2007 | 3,513,966 | 2,190,399 | 5,704,365 | 21.09 |
| 2008 | 3,321,443 | 2,409,305 | 5,703,748 | 0.46 |
| 2009 | 3,489,012 | 2,290,906 | 5,779,918 | 0.86 |
| 2010 | 3,701,427 | 3,342,356 | 7,043,783 | 21.87 |
| 2011 | 4,097,276 | 4,370,719 | 8,467,995 | 20.22 |
| 2012 | 4,475,624 | 5,065,928 | 9,541,552 | 12.68 |
| 2013 | 4,958,880 | 6,383,611 | 11,342,491 | 18.87 |
| 2014 | 4,976,451 | 6,425,047 | 11,401,498 | 0.52 |
| 2015 | 5,909,356 | 6,950,000 | 12,859,356 | 12.8 |
| 2016 | 6,997,879 | 8,109,306 | 15,107,185 | 17.48 |
| 2017 | 7,655,579 | 9,200,058 | 16,855,637 | 11.6 |
| 2018 | 7,817,894 | 10,403,631 | 18,221,525 | 8.1 |
| 2019 | 7,452,262 | 10,666,178 | 18,118,440 | 0.57 |
| 2020 | 2,332,349 | 3,155,264 | 5,429,708 | 70.0 |
| 2021 | 1,502,356 | 287,481 | 1,789,837 | 67.04 |
| 2022 | 4,659,672 | 3,155,264 | 7,814,936 | 336.63% |
| 2023 | 6,262,326 | 7,716,858 | 13,979,184 | 78.88% |
| 2024 | 6,641,912 | 10,573,403 | 17,215,315 | 18.75% |

### Aircraft movements

| Year | Domestic | International | Total | Change% |
| 1995 | 11,135 | 9,380 | 20,515 | 6.79 |
| 1996 | 11,586 | 9,626 | 21,212 | 3.40 |
| 1997 | 11,402 | 10,257 | 21,659 | 2.11 |
| 1998 | 9,673 | 10,272 | 19,945 | 7.91 |
| 1999 | 9,391 | 11,887 | 21,278 | 6.68 |
| 2000 | 11,850 | 11,472 | 23,322 | 9.61 |
| 2001 | 12,705 | 12,467 | 25,172 | 7.93 |
| 2002 | 10,920 | 12,248 | 23,168 | 7.96 |
| 2003 | 12,669 | 12,015 | 24,684 | 6.54 |
| 2004 | 16,765 | 15,917 | 32,682 | 32.40 |
| 2005 | 14,115 | 9,970 | 24,085 | 26.30 |
| 2006 | 17,207 | 13,680 | 30,887 | 28.24 |
| 2007 | 23,915 | 16,884 | 40,799 | 32.09 |
| 2008 | 20,814 | 17,177 | 37,991 | 6.88 |
| 2009 | 20,883 | 16,987 | 37,870 | 0.32 |
| 2010 | 25,311 | 23,257 | 48,568 | 28.25 |
| 2011 | 27,932 | 28,741 | 56,673 | 16.69 |
| 2012 | 28,578 | 32,426 | 61,004 | 7.64 |
| 2013 | 32,370 | 40,219 | 72,589 | 18.99 |
| 2014 | 35,096 | 40,878 | 75,974 | 4.66 |
| 2015 | 40,762 | 43,996 | 84,758 | 16.1 |
| 2016 | 48,883 | 48,930 | 97,813 | 15.4 |
| 2017 | 52,609 | 53,484 | 106,093 | 8.5 |
| 2018 | 54,514 | 63,766 | 118,280 | 11.49 |
| 2019 | 50,409 | 65,167 | 115,576 | 2.29 |
| 2020 | 25,505 | 13,343 | 38,848 | 66.4 |
| 2021 | 14,347 | 4,177 | 18,524 | 52.32 |
| 2022 | 36,033 | 21,436 | 57,469 | 57,469 |
| 2023 | 44,080 | 43,224 | 87,304 | 51.91 |
| 2024 | 46,369 | 57,306 | 103,675 | 23.15 |

### Freight tonnage

| Year | Domestic | International | Total | Change% |
| 1995 | 5,659 | 5,021 | 10,680 | 198.16 |
| 1996 | 7,994 | 5,620 | 13,614 | 27.47 |
| 1997 | 8,285 | 7,522 | 15,807 | 16.11 |
| 1998 | 8,213 | 7,683 | 15,896 | 0.56 |
| 1999 | 10,963 | 11,455 | 22,418 | 41.03 |
| 2000 | 9,841 | 11,091 | 20,932 | 6.63 |
| 2001 | 9,345 | 9,651 | 18,996 | 9.25 |
| 2002 | 10,352 | 12,855 | 23,207 | 22.17 |
| 2003 | 10,866 | 12,338 | 23,204 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 13,382 | 14,659 | 28,041 | 20.85 |
| 2005 | 12,306 | 6,425 | 18,731 | 33.20 |
| 2006 | 13,384 | 4,729 | 18,113 | 3.30 |
| 2007 | 13,268 | 6,452 | 19,720 | 8.87 |
| 2008 | 12,671 | 6,535 | 19,206 | 2.61 |
| 2009 | 13,195 | 7,780 | 20,975 | 9.21 |
| 2010 | 17,434 | 12,810 | 30,244 | 44.19 |
| 2011 | 17,627 | 10,687 | 28,314 | 6.38 |
| 2012 | 18,798 | 15,541 | 34,339 | 21.28 |
| 2013 | 17,234 | 17,386 | 34,620 | 0.82 |
| 2014 | 17,653 | 22,631 | 40,284 | 16.36 |
| 2015 | 14,552 | 22,822 | 37,374 | 7.22 |
| 2016 | 14,676 | 28,538 | 43,214 | 5.73 |
| 2017 | 15,670 | 37,529 | 53,990 | 23.1 |
| 2018 | 15,864 | 46,274 | 62,138 | 15.09 |
| 2019 | 11,592 | 41,120 | 52,712 | 15.17 |
| 2020 | 4,429 | 10,797 | 11,904 | 78.1 |
| 2021 | 2,111 | 2,098 | 4,209 | 64.64 |
| 2022 | 3,152 | 3,391 | 6,543 | 68.37 |
| 2023 | 4,699 | 27,518 | 32,217 | 330.71 |
| 2024 | 4,549 | 53,106 | 57,655 | 78.96 |

### Busiest international routes

Busiest international routes to and from Phuket International Airport (2019) :
| Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | Change% |
| 1 | Singapore | 1,052,635 | 0.58% |
| 2 | Kuala Lumpur–International | 871,584 | 1.00% |
| 3 | Shanghai–Pudong | 760,864 | 1.64% |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 642,904 | 4.57% |
| 5 | Chengdu–Shuangliu | 546,908 | 32.49% |
| 6 | Seoul–Incheon | 461,967 | 6.57% |
| 7 | Doha | 422,087 | 23.08% |
| 8 | Beijing–Capital | 412,213 | 4.58% |
| 9 | Dubai–International | 367,967 | 13.90% |
| 10 | Moscow–Sheremetyevo | 362,977 | 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 | 0.29% |
| 2 | Bangkok–Don Mueang | 3,005,310 | 9.86% |
| 3 | Chiang Mai | 415,771 | 12.23% |
| 4 | Pattaya | 165,992 | 4.58% |
| 5 | Koh Samui | 154,242 | 10.97% |

### Phuket Airport passenger totals (millions)
## 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.