The first flight into Thailand carrying tourists in over six months is scheduled to fly into Phuket on October 8 carrying 150 visitors from China.

The news was announced by Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, following the approval of the new Special Tourist Visa by the Cabinet that will allow the return of long-stay visitors for up to 270 days.

An Air Asia flight carrying 150 Chinese tourists is scheduled to arrive on the southern island On October 8.

Mr Pipat said on Oct 25 there will be 126 Chinese tourists from Guangzhou flying into Suvarnabhumi with Thai Smile Airways while on Nov 1 120 tourists from Scandinavian and Schengen countries with land at Suvarnabhumi Airport onboard a Thai Airways flight.

Other inbound passengers arriving for business on private jets have also been approved.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) announced on Monday that Suvarnabhumi Airport Phase 2 is more than 95% complete and will be operational by April 2022.

AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn told reporters on Monday Satellite Terminal 1 (SAT-1) will service 28 aprons boosting Suvarnabhumi’s capacity by about 15 million passengers per annum.

The APM [Automated People Mover] system that will link SAT-1 with the main airport terminal is 71% complete with two out of the six trains delivered with a further four expected to arrive by late October.

Tests will be conducted once the lines are finished and the additional trains arrive with a completion date estimated to be April 2021.

The APM can shuttle up to 6,000 passengers per hour between the main terminal and SAT-1.

Meanwhile, the Individual Carrier System (ICS) and baggage carousels are about 75 per cent complete. A final readiness test on SAT-1 and its systems will take approximately 12 months.

Construction work on the airline office building and the eastern car park are expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Nitinai said construction had been delayed due to Covid-19, resulting in a lack of labour and the inability to import parts and materials pushing back an earlier opening of the new facility.

SAT-1 is part of a 62 billion baht plan to expand the airport that was approved in 2011.

The National Security Council today approved the extension of the state of emergency for another month until the end of October.

In the announcement, it was stated the continuation was needed to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 outlining once again the Disease Control Act didn’t grant the government the powers needed to combat the virus effectively.

The decision was passed at a meeting of the Covid-19 Situation Administration on Monday morning.