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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Tuesday 2 January 2007 :-
Thailand : Blue skies ahead for regional, new airlines - Batch of new carriers want licences
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Three months after its inauguration, Suvarnabhumi Airport is expected to handle 40 million passengers annually by 2010, as more airlines start using it as their regional hub.
According to the International Air Travel Association, Thailand's aviation industry will grow rapidly in line with the boom in air travel in the Asia Pacific region.
Thailand will gain directly from the new Bangkok airport, which is one of world's most modern, and has the added advantage of a good geographic location.
Chaisak Angkasuwan, director general of Department of Civil Aviation, said eight new airlines were being set up.
Phuket Air, which scrapped an earlier application for landing slots, reapplied under its new company name of Suvarnabhumi Airline.
It plans services from Bangkok to Ranong, Buri Ram, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
Its main shareholders are also setting up Holiday Airline to operate routes to Beijing, Seoul and +++yo.
Prathip Boonprasom, the major shareholder of the defunct Air Andaman, which ceased trading two years ago, is planning a comeback with a German national, Hubert Joseph Trunser and Bernan Luthee from Switzerland in a joint venture to be called Asian Aerospace Service.
Sky Star Airway, the fourth applicant to fly routes from Suvarnabhumi, is a joint Thai (51 per cent) and South Korean (49 per cent) venture. It plans flights from Bangkok to Shanghai three times a week, five flights to Beijing, and five to Taipei.
Siam Express Airway plans to fly to Seoul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City.
The sixth application has come from Thai-owned AS Aviation, which aims to fly air taxis and charter flights for business people, using three small aircraft.
SEE Sky, the seventh applicant, wants to run non-scheduled flights for advertising purposes.
Finally, Air Mark Aviation Thailand, will offer scheduled and non-scheduled flights.
"In 2006, the department approved 33 civil aviation licences but seven of these will be revoked, including those granted to Air Andaman, Thai Pacific, Thai Jet and Thai Air Cargo," Chaisak said.
Also, a group of Chiang Mai politicians and business people are investing Bt200 million to establish Chiang Mai Airways - a new airline to cater for tourists from southern China. The new airline will be positioned somewhere between a general commercial airline and a low-cost carrier.
Meanwhile, regional and local budget airlines, including Singapore's Tiger Air, Jetstar of Australia, Jet Air of India, AirAsia of Malaysia are eyeing Thailand for new opportunities.
And local low-cost operators, One-Two Go and Nok Air are planning to expand their operations, especially into China, Indo-China and India.
The department has urged the Transport Ministry and Airports of Thailand to carry out a feasibility study for building an airport terminal specifically for low-cost operators to tap the market, which is growing 40 per cent per year.
The new terminal should be able to accommodate an additional eight million passengers annually.
However, some budget airlines are calling for a return to Don Muang because operational costs were lower there.
"The airport is designed to eventually serve a maximum of 120 million travellers in the long term, so we will see further expansion as demand increases," Chaisak said.
Apart from the setting up of new airlines and the emergence of low-cost carriers, some major airlines, including national flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) are expanding their networks from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
THAI recently added Bangkok to Johannesburg in South Africa and Bangkok to Hyderabad in India, as well as increasing flights to Munich, Sydney, Beijing and Madrid.
The airline has also introduced long-haul direct flights between Bangkok and New York plus Bangkok and Los Angeles.
The new airport has also attracted new players, including Etihad Airways from the UAE. The airline increased its services on the Bangkok-Abu Dhabi route as the airline saw more demand from both leisure and business travellers.
The expansion is part of Etihad's global strategy to link East and West using Abu-Dhabi as the hub.
Bangkok Airways is also planning to increase its seat capacity by 25 per cent and plans to purchase more aircraft.
The airline carries 600,000 passengers between Bangkok and Samui, where it also operates the airport, which generate some 40 per cent of total income. Passenger traffic is forecast to increase by 15 per cent annually.
Bangkok Airways will be the second Thai airline to operate routes to Vietnam this year under a code-share agreement with Ho Chi Minh based Pacific Airlines.
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Posted on: 1:11 am on Jan. 2, 2007
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