Thai AirAsia plans new destinations
Low-cost carrier to add 10 more departures on new and existing routes, services to Laos after 2015 opening of AEC
Thai AirAsia, the country’s biggest low-cost carrier, is strengthening its network in Indochina by adding new routes and increasing flight frequencies.
Currently, the airline operates 70 flights a week to Indochina destinations out of the total 250 international flights. In 2015, it plans to add 10 new flights to new and existing routes, said chief executive officer Tassapon Bijleveld.
Currently Thai AirAsia flies to only three nations in Indochina: Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Laos will be added after the opening of the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
The company hopes its margin from this market will increase to 15 per cent by 2015, up from 10-12 per cent at present.
Tassapon said Indochina was its second-biggest market after China. The market is expected to see a rising number of travellers in the long term. In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers travelling through the region grew by 35 per cent year on year.
Currently, AirAsia’s sales from Indochina make up a quarter of the total, and by 2015 the proportion is projected to increase to one-third.
Given the big potential, the airline plans to launch flights to Nay Pyi Taw from Don Mueang International Airport in the final quarter of this year.
Yesterday, the firm announced a new flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It will begin on October 1, with one flight per day. The city will be the airline’s sixth destination in Indochina, behind Yangon, Mandalay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh.
The firm expects its load factor on the Siem Reap route to be more than 80 per cent. The city is a major destination for foreigners travelling to Cambodia. Chinese, Japanese and Koreans are the major groups going there. The new AirAsia flight is expected to bring an additional 300,000-500,000 tourists there annually.
The new flight to Siem Reap will compete head-on with Bangkok Airways. To seize a big share of this market, AirAsia is offering a big promotion of 8,000 seats each priced at Bt999 net. Booking began yesterday and will be open until July 24, and passengers will be allowed to fly until August 5 next year.
Bangkok Airways
Bangkok Airways, a full-service airline, has also launched a promotion of its own. It is offering a ticket price of Bt7,450, not including airport and other fees. Booking will be accepted until September 30 for flights until next March 31.
After AirAsia’s promotion ends, it will continue to offer affordable seats to Siem Reap, at Bt1,599 net.
Tassapon said the company’s business performance has been good so far this year, and he believes that the trend will be similar in the second half. In the first six months, its sales and profits were far better than expected when compared with the same period last year, he said, but declined to give any details.
In the first half, its cabin factor was 84 per cent, up from 81 per cent year on year.
He is confident the airline will meet its sales projection of Bt20 billion this year, carrying 10 million passengers, up from 8.3 million in 2012. In the first half of this year, the company carried 5.2 million passengers, largely Chinese travellers.
