THAI to cancel 6 routes to 4 Asean countries

MONDAY, October 21, 2019

Sumeth Damrongchaitham, President of Thai Airways International (THAI), has said that THAI is looking into the shutting down of six flight routes to 4 Indochinese countries, namely Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

These routes, which all emanate from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, are to Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Yangon.
“These routes are all covered by a small number of flights and have low customer capacity,” he said. “Once the cancellation plan is finalised, THAI will assign Thai Smile Airways to cover these routes instead.”

Sumeth Damrongchaitham

Sumeth further explained that competition had become fiercer, with every airline dropping prices to stay ahead of its rivals. “THAI needs to adjust our strategies too to preserve our reservation rate. We will focus on rolling out promotional campaigns until year end.”
“However, next year’s strategy remains to be seen. Our prices this year have been reduced to a record low and if this strategy doesn’t work, we may take a different direction, such as seeking more partners for organisation tickets, increasing online channels, or giving privileges to frequent fliers,” he added.