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Bangkok Airways to Reopen China Routes
8th Jun 2016
Bangkok Airways President Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth said in an interview for local Thai media that the airline is considering re-entering China for the first time in seven years. However, according to Mr. Puttipong, the carrier will not return to the same routes it axed in 2009, but will instead open some new ones.
More precisely, the full-service airline has already asked the Chinese government permission to start non-stop, regular flights from Koh Samui to Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing. The carrier has already received permission from authorities to start a four-time weekly service between Koh Samui and Chengdu. This leaves Koh Samui-Guangzhou and Koh-Samui-Chongqing for the two parties to negotiate about.
Asia’s boutique ailine will start operating Koh Samui-Guangzhou flights in July, with four flights per week, using Airbus A319 aircraft. The plan for the other two destinations is to fly to Guangzhou on a daily basis and to Chongqing three times a week.
Why Samui and Not Bangkok?
The big question is why did Bangkok Airways pick the resort island of Koh Samui and not perhaps the more logical Bangkok city? Mr Puttipong said this was done in order to avoid intense completion the airline would have to deal with from rivals operating from Bangkok to the three mentioned destinations.
Also, Puttipong said Koh Samui is becoming attractive with Chinese tourists as an alternative to Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Krabi.
He said:
We hope to develop new traffic from western Chinese regions that are remote from the sea.
That is not to say, however, that Bangkok Airways won’t have any competition on these routes. On average, one charter flight (Airbus A319 or A320) flies from Koh Samui to southern China. These are operated by Beijing Capital Airlines (subsidiary of Hainan Airlines) and Lucky Air.
In addition, Thai-registered charter carrier New Gen operates flights between China and Surat Thani Airport, which is only a bus and ferry from the resort island.
Bangkok Airways president said about this:
We are providing an alternative to those Chinese charter operators as well as generating new demand.
Bangkok Airways Operated to Xian and Guilin Until 2009
Until 2009, the airline operated flights between Bangkok and Xian (two times per week) and between Bangkok and Guilin (four times per week).
Since terminating those two routes, the carrier had no connection with the Chinese mainland.
In addition, around the same time, the airline also axed its twice-weekly service from Bangkok to Hiroshima, Japan and daily Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh City service.
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