Chen told The Nation that the Internet, teleconferencing and e-mails would not lead to less travel for the global population.

"The more [of these technological advances] the better for the airline industry," he said, citing business travel as an example, now that cross-border logistics has become the norm for multinational firms.

Executives of many regional garment firms, for instance, have seen an increase in their business travel as they have to inspect and purchase materials in various Asian locations as part of their global supply chain.

"If you're based in Hong Kong, you may be required to travel to Thailand for some fabrics, to Korea for some other materials and to China and elsewhere in the region," Chen said.

"Suppose you need to order 100,000 zippers for the first time. You want to see your supplier and his factory first. It's the same for other parts and components."

As for leisure travel, Chen said Asian markets still had a lot of room to grow for decades to come. For instance, only 11 per cent of the Japanese and Korean populations have ever flown abroad, while the figure for mainland China is about just 1 per cent of the country's 1.3 billion population.

As a result, the global and regional tourism sector will continue to record high growth rates.

Cathay Pacific, which has been serving Bangkok for the past five decades, is now part of the aviation group that also includes passenger airline Dragonair and freight-carrier Air Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific last week opened its 330-square-metre passenger lounge at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The airline operates more than 50 flights out of Thailand per week, making Bangkok its second busiest foreign hub after Taipei.

With a fleet of 143 aircraft, the airline last year carried about 15 million passengers.

After presiding over the opening ceremony of the new lounge, Chen said the new Thai airport appeared to have considerable room for expansion.

He noted that Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport, which opened nine years ago, was now preparing to build a second terminal.

According to Airports of Thailand, Suvarnabhumi Airport has total space of more than 500,000 square metres, making it the world's largest single-terminal airport.

In terms of space, Suvarnabhumi is about 10 per cent larger than the current Hong Kong airport.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

The Nation