Bangkok Airways Mulls Flying To Malaysia Next Year

[Zamir 0]

Bangkok Airways Mulls Flying To Malaysia Next Year

BERLIN, March 13 (Bernama) -- Thailand's private airline, Bangkok Airways, which touts itself as a "boutique airline", is considering introducing flights to Malaysia next year.

 

Peter Wiesener, Bangkok Airways senior vice-president, who is in Berlin to participate in the International Tourism Bourse (ITB), said the airline was planning to use its own aircraft for flights to Malaysia from 2012.

 

"Malaysia is an important market for us because of the growing two-way air traffic with Thailand. We are considering flights to Malaysia.

 

"We will start with a code-sharing arrangement with Malaysia's national carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), in 2011. Thereafter, we will deploy our own aircraft for flights to Malaysia.

 

"That will be the next logical step to undertake," said Wiesener in an interview with Bernama at ITB, the world's biggest and most important travel and tourism fair organised by Messe Berlin GmbH.

 

Wiesener said Bangkok Airways was eyeing the Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur or Phuket-Kuala Lumpur route.

 

The carrier has a total fleet of 17 aircraft, eight of which are of the ATR-72500 type, three A323s and six A319 type. The airline will receive another aircraft in November this year of the A319 type.

 

The 44-year-old Bangkok Airways is not a low-cost carrier as the airline officials emphasised at the ITB.

 

Bangkok Airways flies mainly within Asia. It has flights to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

The airline started a flight to Mumbai on March 2 as India is "our most promising market" in South Asia.

 

Like Malaysia, Thailand has set up a huge pavilion with a large group of officials from hotels, tour operators, travel agents, airlines and individual states showcasing their products and services.

 

The Thai pavilion is one of the most popular country stands at the ongoing ITB.

 

Source

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Sounds great , dying to try this ' boutique airline '

[Walter Sim 1]

Hopefully they'll send their nice A319s here to KUL. Someone really needs to do KUL-USM-KUL!

[Waiping 12]

KUL? ATR can use SZB instead. Btw, last time there was some discussion on foreign airlines using SZB for their operation. If not mistaken one of the airline is Happy Air?

[Denny Yen 0]

Wiesener said Bangkok Airways was eyeing the Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur or Phuket-Kuala Lumpur route.

Presumably using LCCT, not KLIA.

[dean hizudy 0]

Presumably using LCCT, not KLIA.

Bangkok Airways is not a low cost carrier

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Hopefully they'll send their nice A319s here to KUL. Someone really needs to do KUL-USM-KUL!

 

The airport tax on this sector is daylight robbery

[JuliusWong 0]

I saw Bangkok Air's A319 taking off before my flight last Tuesday in Changi. Beautiful livery and nice to see the tiny Airbus A319 blasting off at full speed!

[reezal 0]

Bangkok Airways expands in India

 

 

Published: 7/10/2011 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Business

 

Bangkok Airways plans to expand its footprint in India's burgeoning air travel market with four more Indian destinations.

 

The carrier is keen to operate flights from Bangkok to Lucknow, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, pending securing traffic rights from Indian aviation authorities, said airline president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.

 

Its first foray into India occurred in March this year with a daily flight from Bangkok to Mumbai.

 

On Sept 26, services to Bangalore were initiated with a load factor in the 70% range for its early stages.

 

Subject to the provision of traffic slots, Bangkok Airways hopes to launch regular service to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, largely to cater to Buddhist pilgrims next year.

 

It will phase in the other three cities in over the next few years.

 

"India offers huge market potential and there is robust demand for air travel between India and Thailand," said Capt Puttipong.

 

The airline also feels the growing low-cost carriers are not necessarily competitors, because Bangkok Airways is a full service airline.

 

Arrivals from India to Thailand in the first eight months of this year jumped 34.7% year-on-year to 627,670.

 

That represents 4.9% of Thailand's total arrivals in the period, the Tourism Authority of Thailand reports.

 

Expanding its Indian coverage is a strategic priority for the airline in the short term, ramping up frequencies on existing routes rather than launching new ones.

 

Its only new route firmly set to launch is Koh Samui-Kuala Lumpur around next March as the airline expands traffic through its lucrative base in the Gulf of Thailand.

 

The company will bump up its Bangkok-Bangalore flights to daily from December, from five a week at present, as an additional A319 jetliner will arrive next month.

 

The airline is due to take delivery of two more Airbus aircraft next year _ an A319 in February and an A320 in October.

 

The new aircraft will be used to increase its Indian coverage.

 

 

Source: Bangkok Post

 

 

Bangkok Air's Koh Samui code-share scheme grows

 

 

Published: 6/10/2011 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Business

 

Malaysia Airlines, Finnair and Japan Airlines are poised to join Bangkok Airways' pool of code-share partners for flights in and out of Koh Samui.

 

Their entry will expand the flight partnership that already includes Etihad, Air Berlin, Air France, KLM, EVA Air and last week SilkAir.

 

Malaysia Airlines and Finnair are expected to join the code-share this high season, while Japan Airlines will join next year, said a Bangkok Airways executive.

 

The expanding pool should drive more traffic to the resort island, said Bangkok Airways president Puttipong Prasarttong-osoth. It means Bangkok Airways will carry over passengers of those foreign carriers that do not operate their own aircraft to and from Koh Samui.

 

Koh Samui is the most lucrative hub of the private Thai airline, which over the past two decades has almost single-handedly put the once-sleepy island on the global tourism map.

 

The airport on the island was built and is operated by Bangkok Airways, with up to 1.5 million passengers passing through and 20,000 flights last year.

 

The airport serves flights by Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways International, Firefly, Berjaya Air and now SilkAir, with routes to Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Trat, Singapore, Hong Kong, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur.

 

SilkAir, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines, started service on Sept 27 between Koh Samui and Singapore with three flights per week on an A319 jetliner.

 

Koh Samui is SilkAir's third destination in Thailand after Phuket and Chiang Mai. For Bangkok Air, it means more traffic from Singapore as well as through traffic from long-haul routes connecting through Singapore, he said.

 

SilkAir will run morning flights from Singapore while Bangkok Airways runs evening services, he said.

 

Source: Bangkok Post

 

 

 

I really hope the flights USM-KUL do take off this March. It would be great to see Bangkok Airways colourful livery in KLIA.

[dean hizudy 0]

 

 

 

 

 

I really hope the flights USM-KUL do take off this March. It would be great to see Bangkok Airways colourful livery in KLIA.

USM-KUL or USM-SZB?

[reezal 0]

USM-KUL or USM-SZB?

 

From reading those articles I think it would be USM-KUL since they planned to codeshare with MH, i may be wrong though. There are two carriers plying USM-SZB at the moment (FY & J8), so I dun think it would be a economically viable for Bangkok Airways to join the crowd :-). But then if they're planning to fly ATR, SZB might be their preferred choice.

[flee 5]

The flights have begun quietly using Airbus A319 equipment:

http://www.bangkokair.com/eng/promotions/bestfares/to:kuala-lumpur

 

[Mushrif A 3]

Quietly? Definitely not...there were press releases and a reception thrown by MAHB.

[flee 5]

Yes, but not much in terms of marketing activities. When was the last time you saw an ad or online banner for Bangkok Airways?

[Robert 0]

Read about them in one of the expat magazines. I wonder how well the route is performing?

[dean hizudy 0]

Yes, but not much in terms of marketing activities. When was the last time you saw an ad or online banner for Bangkok Airways?

quite a lot actually! in English newspaper such as The Star,NST,etc...btw you have go to bookstores such as MPH and open the travel-related magazines there then you will see PG ads/promo for USM-KUL route....

 

And 1 more thing, perhaps you didnt "like" PG official FB page?

[Tafe 0]

If you drive to/from KLIA, you can see their huge advertisement billboard...

[flee 5]

quite a lot actually! in English newspaper such as The Star,NST,etc...btw you have go to bookstores such as MPH and open the travel-related magazines there then you will see PG ads/promo for USM-KUL route....

 

And 1 more thing, perhaps you didnt "like" PG official FB page?

IC - no wonder I did not see them. Don't buy any mainstream media publications!

[Waiping 12]

I kinda missed out on the "LIKE" on their FB too.

[dean hizudy 0]

IC - no wonder I did not see them. Don't buy any mainstream media publications!

no need to buy! Bookstores such as MPH allowed customer to read some books or magazines there for free.....