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Thai Airways International Public Co. Ltd. is considering resuming service between Bangkok and Vietnam’s Danang City next year to meet the increasing demand for air travel on this route.
Nond Kalinta, general manager of Thai Airways in Vietnam, told the Daily that the company was studying the feasibility of resuming Bangkok-Danang flights, hopefully next year.
Thai Airways will initially operate three weekly flights between the cities, two years after the airline suspended the service due to poor demand. “We focus on Danang as a destination of great potential so we plan to operate a Boeing 737 aircraft between Bangkok and Danang,” Nond said.
He added that Thai Airways targeted some 60% of the passengers of the flights to and from the central coastal city of Danang to be leisure travelers.
Nond said Thai Airways would launch air service between Vietnam and Johannesburg in South Africa via Bangkok on October 29. The airline will use Airbus A340-600 aircraft for the service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The flights from Vietnam arrive in Bangkok at around 10:30 and depart for Johannesburg around midnight. “So, it’s a good connecting flight for passengers departing from Vietnam to South Africa’s largest city,” Nond said.
Thai Airways now sells a promotional return ticket for US $715 per person for two persons travelling on the same flight if booking is made this month.
Vietnam-Johannesburg service is part of Thai Airways’ strategy to expand its worldwide services every year. “This year we focus on South Africa because it is a potential market and the fact that not many Asian airlines have flown to the city.”
Thai Airways will add two flights from Ho Chi Minh City this year and next. “Demand for the flights here doubles that in Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City also plays a major role in inbound and outbound flights of Thai Airways,” Nond explained.
Thai Airways now operates 15 flights between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, and 14 between the Thai capital city and Hanoi.
The company reports its current cabin factor of 70-80% for the Ho Chi Minh City flights and 67% for the Hanoi flights, or five percentage points lower than before the coup in Thailand last week.
Nond said the coup had actually had an impact on Thai Airways and that it took a month for business to return to normal.
* Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. yesterday signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines in Hanoi to provide fleet support for Airbus A330 aircraft.
Vietnam Airlines spokesman Nguyen Tan Chan told the Daily that Evergreen would supply parts and engineering services for A330 aircraft, with delivery set for October this year. The national flag carrier plans to charter at least three A330 aircrafts for more flights in the coming years.
Chan said Vietnam Airlines chose the member of Taiwan’s Evergreen Group as it previously provided maintenance services for the airline’s Boeing 767 fleet.
Vietnam Airlines plans four weekly flights between Hanoi and the Laos city of Luang Phrabang from the end of October this year.
The cost of a single trip to the country’s second destination of Vietnam Airlines will start probably from US $100. The carrier now operates flights from Vietnam to Vientiane.
Vietnam Airlines is expected to begin its new service of selling e-tickets for Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City service in November this year.
Vietnam Airlines carried six million passengers last year and nearly five million passengers from January to mid-September this year. Chan said the airline targeted growth of 10-12% this year.
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