Bangkok Airways to go seven-days-a-week
Bangkok Airways officials announced on Tuesday that the direct service from Bangalore to Bangkok would be operated on all days of the week, starting November.
The Airways has received a positive response with a 70 per cent load factor in the first week for its Bangalore service, which started on September 27. Currently, Bangkok Airways operates all days, except Monday and Friday, with the Airbus A 319 flight having only economy class seats. This is set to be improved by the coming month with the addition of business class (12 seats) and economy reduced to 108 seats from 138.
Varong Israsena, Director of Sales, told Deccan Herald that the demand for Thailand was more than the supply.
“I feel we should have entered this market much earlier, but it is never too late. We are not looking to eat up Thai Airways’ share, but to build up a reputation of ourselves amongst passengers,” he said.
P Prasarttong Osoth, President, Bangkok Airways, said the airlines was in discussion with Kingfisher Airlines to operate flights on code sharing basis so as to tap the flying crowd from places such as Lucknow, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
Officials from Bangkok Airways said currently, due to the festival season, a majority of the flyers are in groups. Thailand is becoming a favourite among corporate entities to hold high-level conferences and seminars.
In 2010, more than 500 Indian weddings were conducted on the shores of Thailand, especially in places like Samui and Phuket. This is fast becoming a trend the airline industry is looking to tap into and sell Thailand for. The airfare (all inclusive round trip) is Rs 15,360 for economy class seats and Rs 34,700 for business class seats (available by November 27).
