InnovestX Securities maintained its Outperform rating on AOT, citing improving flight demand, stronger airport slot management and potential fee adjustments. The brokerage said October 2026 could see higher aircraft movements and passenger traffic, helped by Chinese travel during Golden Week and the start of the winter flight schedule later in the month.
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (SET: AOT)’s management expects flight activity and Chinese tourist arrivals to improve during the Golden Week holiday from Oct. 1–7, 2026, before airlines move into the Winter Slot season in late October.
For fiscal 2026, covering October 2025 to September 2026, AOT expects total passenger volume across its six airports to grow by 1–2% year on year. InnovestX said this projection is consistent with its current estimates.
The brokerage also highlighted better slot allocation as a positive operating factor. Airlines are now booking airport slots more closely in line with actual flight plans, reducing the practice of holding unused slots. This allows AOT to allocate capacity more effectively and add flights on routes with strong demand, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Another operational development is the planned contract signing with AOTGA, the third ground-handling operator. Management expects the agreement to be signed in early October 2026 after Cabinet approval in September 2026. Operations are expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, in time to support travel demand during the high season.
AOT is also reviewing several airport charges to better reflect actual costs. These include landing charges, parking charges and aircraft service charges. InnovestX said aircraft parking fees are currently low, and an adjustment could discourage long aircraft parking periods while freeing space for additional flights.
InnovestX viewed the updates as positive for AOT. It said Golden Week demand and the winter flight timetable could support international flight recovery, while the expected 1–2% passenger growth in fiscal 2026 remains in line with its forecast.
The brokerage expects AOT’s earnings to return to an uptrend in 4QFY26, covering July to September 2026. The improvement is expected to be supported by structural earnings growth from higher Passenger Service Charge (PSC) for international departing passengers and a continued recovery in international passenger traffic.
InnovestX forecasts AOT’s normal profit to rise 57% year on year in fiscal 2027, which runs from October 2026 to September 2027.
Potential earnings upside could come from higher landing and parking charges, as well as the possible collection of PSC from transit and transfer passengers, both of which remain under study. InnovestX’s sensitivity analysis indicates that AOT’s earnings could see 6–9% upside if landing and parking charges are raised by 30–50% to align more closely with competing airports.
An additional 1% earnings upside could come from charging PSC to transit and transfer passengers at 100 baht per passenger. These potential changes have not yet been included in InnovestX’s current earnings forecast.
InnovestX reiterated its OUTPERFORM recommendation on AOT with a 72-baht target price.
