Airlines active as high season approaches
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MAJOR AIRLINES are spreading their wings and offering special promotions in a bid to secure bookings ahead of the coming high season in Thailand.
Thai Airways International (THAI) is promoting its Singapore and Hong Kong routes, while Nok Air, NokScoot and AirAsia have launched new services to overseas destinations with special deals to encourage advance bookings.
The moves are aimed at reclaiming business and passengers after bookings plunged in the wake of the bomb blast at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine on August 17, which killed 20 people and injured more than 100, many of them foreign tourists.
Wiwat Piyawiroj, vice president for sales and distribution at THAI’s Thailand and Indochina department, said the national carrier was now offering two promotional fares: Bangkok-Hong Kong, with prices starting at Bt7,855 per person; and Bangkok-Singapore, with prices starting at Bt7,600.
The promotions are valid for travel by a minimum of two adults per booking, for flights until December 19.
The promotion is available for 14 days and tickets are for round-trip travel in economy class. Tax and surcharges are included, but the tickets are not re-routable or upgradeable, and are non-refundable.
A sister airline of THAI, Nok Air, yesterday launched its latest international route, from Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport to Hanoi, in northern Vietnam.
This marks the low-cost carrier’s second international route, after the launch of flights to Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam earlier this year.
The Hanoi service will be operated by a Boeing 737-800 with a capacity of 189 seats, starting on December 1 at a frequency of four flights a week.
The airline is offering an all-inclusive fare from Bt999 per passenger per sector, with the introductory rate available for bookings until September 20.
NokScoot, another low-cost airline, last week said it would expand its network into Taipei (Taoyuan) from October 25 onwards, with four flights a week.
The flights will be operated by a Boeing 777-200, which can accommodate up to 415 passengers, with 24 seats in business class and 391 in economy.
Introductory fares start from Bt3,222, including tax and surcharges.
Meanwhile, to secure bookings, AirAsia is bringing back its big sales promotion, with all domestic Thai AirAsia routes from Bangkok starting from a zero-baht base fare, or Bt100 inclusive of airport tax.
