Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports will offer free parking for travellers during the New Year period.
Suvarnabhumi airport will waive fees for cars parked at its long-term car park, or Zone C, starting from 8am tomorrow until 5pm on Jan 2, said Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn.
Don Mueang airport, meanwhile, will waive parking fees from today until Jan 2, he said.
At Don Mueang airport, free parking is offered on the second floor of Cargo Building 5, a car park in front of the same building, another car park between Cargo Buillding 5 and Cargo Building 3, and the airport staff car park.
A shuttle bus service will be offered to ferry passengers from the parking spaces to the terminals once every 15 minutes.
In addition to free parking, the AoT has also instructed both airports to step up security measures and ensure passenger convenience during the holiday peak period, he said.
The AoT estimates that 3.18 million passengers will use its six international airports during the year-end holiday, with airlines set to operate a total of 18,300 flights.
Mr Nitinai said that from Dec 27 to Jan 2, total air passengers at AoT's six international airports -- Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai -- are expected to increase by 11.8% from last year.
An average of 453,600 passengers will travel by air each day during the period, and an average of 2,610 flights will pass through the six airports per day.
The company also predicted that Suvarnabhumi airport will be the most crowded with 1.52 million passengers expected during the period or 217,000 passengers per day, representing a 15.3% year-on-year growth.
Don Mueang airport is expected to come in second, with a total of 887,000 passengers over the year-end period, or 126,700 per day, showing an 11.7% increase.
To facilitate air travellers, the AoT has established assistance centres at all six airports, which will be staffed around the clock, he said.
At Don Mueang airport, the number of ground staff handling luggage trolleys has been raised from 50 people to 60 people a day since Dec 15 to cope with the expected rise in passenger numbers, said Mr Nitinai.
A total of 215 trolleys were added to the existing 2,285 on Christmas Day, he said.
A new ticket queue system has also been installed at taxi stands at Don Mueang airport, he said.
