Bangkok Air looks to expand India services
12 Apr 2011
After tasting success with its introductory services to India, Bangkok Airways has now sought permission from Indian aviation authorities to operate Bangkok- Bangalore/Chennai flights. The Thai regional carrier forayed into the India sector just over a month ago.
According to vice-president, ML Nandhika Varavarn, the response to its Mumbai flights was encouraging with bookings for the month reaching 75%, inspite of strong competition. He said the airline managed a load factor of 60% of its seats during the launch period.
Bangkok Airways is a private regional airline based in Bangkok, Thailand. It operates scheduled domestic services and international services to Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong), Japan, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport, with privately held airports in Ko Samui, Sukhothai Province and Trat Province.
According to Nandhika, the airline would "most likely" start scheduled daily services to Bangalore by the end of this year and to Chennai by early next year.
She also said the carrier would also want to ramp up its services to Mumbai, its first Indian port of call, where services were launched on 2 March, to a daily service from six flights a week. This would depend on slot availability.
The carrier would also consider Delhi sometime in the future as the competition was fierce and there were slot restrictions.
