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Luxury Cabin Now on Bangkok Airways
17th Jun 2013
Bangkok Airways is testing the luxury travel market with the introduction of a charter luxury service using its fleet of Airbus A319 planes.
Bangkok Airways is furnishing its A319 jets with amenities fit for luxurious air travel such as sofas, tables, among others. The country's second biggest full-service carrier has obtained a VIP conversion kit that would enable to turn half of the fuselage of an A319 aircraft into a luxurious cabin.
Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President of Bangkok Airways, disclosed to the Bangkok Post that the configured cabin can seat 12 passengers, whereas the rear section of the aircraft will be assigned to regular airline seats.
TAT Group's Sabena Technics of France was paid US$6 million by the airline to provide the VIP conversion kit. Sabena Technics is a leading independent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider to both civil and military aircraft operators.
The conversion kit provides flexibility to the airline operator in turning its 33.8-meter long A319 plane into a luxury jet whenever necessary or if demand calls for it. Otherwise, the cabin can easily be converted back into a regular seating layout for regular scheduled services.
With its conversion kit, Bangkok Airways can claim the distinction as the largest privately-owned company that offers executive charter service in the country.
The Thai Royal family, as well as the armed forces and governments officials, uses larger planes with similar class configurations.
Mjets Ltd is the largest and only private company in Thailand which operates the largest private plane to date, using the ultra-long range Gulfstream V.
With a total length of 29.4 meters, spanning from nose to tail, the Gulfstream V can comfortably seat 13 passengers on board and capable of cruising a distance of more than 10,000 kilometers at once.
The twin-engine A319 aircraft, on the other hand, is only capable of cruising up to 6,700 kilometers at most primarily due to the drag it has to bear with its standard configuration of 130 seats.
The airline executive offered that, aside from being used for charter service, the configured A319 aircraft will also be used by his father founder, Prasert.
He added that the bread and butter of Bangkok Airways will remain the commercial airline operation. The luxury charter service would only serve as its sideline business.
According to another private jet service provider executive, the cost for a charter service offered by Bangkok Airways would vary greatly as it will be using a bigger aircraft.
The airline currently has a fleet of 21 aircraft: 5 A320s, 8 A319s and 8 ATR-72 turboprops.
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