Bangkok Airways, which flies to Mumbai in India, is all set to attract Indian travellers to the ASEAN region. The airline is witnessing an excellent load factor of over 90 per cent in peak seasons on Mumbai- Bangkok route. With an extensive connectivity in the ASEAN region, the airline is now eyeing to provide Indian travellers seamless connectivity on these routes.
Speaking about the plans for India market, Komkrit Ngamwongwirot, Regional Director- Sales, South & South East Asia and Middle East said, “Currently we have a flight on Mumbai route which is doing extremely well. The load factor is above 90 during peak seasons and in low season is around 70 per cent. As of now for expansion we are looking at a few Tier I and II cities in India. If we get traffic rights, we will increase our network in the Indian market. India is a very high potential market for us. We would also like to increase frequency on Mumbai route, but as of now it is not possible as we have exhausted our capacity.”
Earlier this year, Bangkok Airways had entered into a loyalty programme pact with the Jet Airways under which the frequent fliers of the two carriers can redeem reward points while travelling on each other’s network. The airline is also looking to expand this partnership to enhance service in India market. Ngamwongwirot added, “Currently we have a partnership with Jet Airways in India which is working very well for us. But soon we need to expand our partnership with Jet, so as to provide much better service in India.”
Recently, Bangkok Airways added Vietnam to its route with the launch of a four time weekly flight to Da Nang. With excellent connectivity to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and now Vietnam, the airline sees huge potential on these sectors. He said, “We are dominant in the ASEAN region with three routes to Myanmar, two cities each in Laos and Cambodia, and we just started a flight to Vietnam. We are now looking to increase more cities in Myanmar. Cambodia is doing extremely well as their economy is growing. In Laos, we are looking to connect the smaller cities with our Tier II cities. We are looking to attract Indian travellers to these destinations, as we all are one single community and we want to increase tourism to all these destinations. We see a good market in India for these destinations.”
This year, the airline is also looking to expand into the China market. Ngamwongwirot added, “We are looking to expand in China. India and China are two of the most rapidly growing economies in the world today. We cannot overlook china. We are looking to fly to Chongquing and Chengdu as of now.”
