Nok Air scraps Korat-Chiang Mai route in blow to Northeast province

The final flight took off from Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) airport at 7am on Tuesday with just 10 passengers on board.

Closure of the route comes after Nakhon Ratchasima’s governor called a September 16 meeting with Nok Air CEO Wutthiphum Jurangkool but failed to persuade him to continue the service.

The low-cost carrier launched its first flight between Nakhon Ratchasima and Chiang Mai on August 2, using 86-seater Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop planes.

However, the service fell short of its target for commercial viability, with some flights carrying just nine passengers.

Nok Air initially told Nakhon Ratchasima provincial administration that it was suspending the service in October for maintenance work, but it quickly became obvious that the route was being scrapped.

Governor Wichian Janthornnothai now wants other Nok Air services to detour to Korat, including the Bangkok-Chiang Mai flight.

Nok is the 10th airline that has tried and failed to make the Korat-Chiang Mai route commercially viable, following efforts by Thai Airways, Air Andaman, AirAsia, Air Phoenix, Happy Air and others.