Airports of Thailand sees passengers rising 6% to 10% in 2014/15

[BANGKOK] Airports of Thailand, the country's largest airport operator, said it expected total passenger numbers to rise 6-10 per cent in its financial year ending September 2015 as tourism recovers from months of political unrest. "The (political) situation is back to normal, which makes more foreign tourists travel to Thailand," acting president Nirandra Theeranartsin told reporters on Thursday.

The prolonged turmoil badly hurt confidence and tourism, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the Thai economy. The army seized power in May in a bid to restore stability.

In its financial year ended September 2014, the firm said total passengers rose 1.67 per cent to 87.57 million.

The number of foreign tourists rose for the second straight months in November from a year earlier but it still dropped 8.61 per cent in the first 11 months of 2014.

REUTERS