Bangkok, recently –Bangkok Airways’ president, Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth together with M.L. Nandhika Varavarn, Vice President for Corporate Communications and Varong Israsena, Sales Director – Asia, Charter & Cargo Sales, announced the airlines’ half-year operating performance, marketing strategy and revenue target for 2011.
The airline’s latest TV commercial was also revealed at Nokia Ultra Screen Theatre 1, 5th Floor, Siam Paragon.
Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President said, “Our revenues for the first-half of 2011 total around 5.2 billion baht – much better than for the same period in 2010. We aim to achieve a minimum of 10.6 billion baht in revenue this year –a 29 per cent increase over the 2010 figure of 8.3 billion baht. The number of passengers we have flown to date since January this year is 1.5 million and we plan to reach 3.1 million by the end of the year. This will represent a 17 per cent increase over the 2.6 million passenger figure we recorded in 2010. Around 530,000 of passengers in 2010 were Thai nationals. This figure is expected to increase this year by some 17 per cent.”
“Our most popular destinations are Samui, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. We have improved our performance over the year especially on the Bangkok-Phuket route where we now fly six flights daily with a cabin factor of 80 per cent. For Bangkok-Chiang Mai, we fly five flights per day with 70 per cent cabin factor. Direct flights from Chiang Mai to Samui are especially popular with an 80 per cent cabin factor.”
“Owing to the global economic downturn last year, our route expansion has been limited. We added only the Bangkok-Sukhothai-Lampang route to our network in 2010. This year, however, we have added Bangkok-Mumbai (India) and Bangkok-Dhaka (Bangladesh). Both have been well received, especially the Bangkok-Mumbai service, and have enjoyed a good response with a cabin factor of some 70 per cent. We will also add a direct flight from Bangkok to Bengaluru (Bangalore), as a second destination in India after Mumbai. We will fly 5 flights weekly and will increase the frequency to daily flights in December. We expect to achieve a cabin factor for this route of around 60 per cent.
“Bangkok Airways is planning to add three more aircraft to our current fleet within two years. The first of two 144-seat A319s is scheduled to arrive in November 2011 and the second in February 2012. The 162-seat Airbus 320 is expected to arrive in October 2012,” Mr. Puttipong added.
“For the convenience and better connectivity for Bangkok Airways long-haul passengers, we have recently made a codeshare agreement with Singapore-based regional airline SilkAir. Bangkok Airways will also increase its codeshare partnership with Finnair, Malaysian Airlines and India’s King Fisher Airlines. This is another channel to drive more traffic to Thailand,” concluded Mr. Puttipong.
Varong Israsena, Sales Director – Asia, Charter and Cargo Sales said, “Since early 2011, Bangkok Airways has launched a number of campaigns and sales promotions to boost Thai and expat passenger sales. We have also staged a number of road shows in major cities around the country. Promotions have included a ‘11 Days Fare’, and special discounted fare promotions through web purchase. The promotion was also available at the Ultimate Dream Destination Fair at Siam Paragon. We have also worked in cooperation with agents with a “Summer Fly Summer Free” campaign in the Thai market featuring two round trip tickets with two nights free accommodation. The advertising for this promotion is currently aired on TV and on in the print media. This promotion has been extended to 31 October because of excellent customer response. Our latest 5-Day Fare was offered at Chiang Mai International Food Festival 2011 at Central Airport Plaza, Chiang Mai where we received a greater than expected response from local residents.
“The Sales Department will continue to present similar promotions throughout 2011. We plan for example, to participate in the Discover Thailand Fair 2011 in September as a way to thank our customers for their continued support.”
“We will also emphasise our boutique service in which we have partnered with leading hotels for “Stay in Style Fly Boutique” where our customers will be able to receive either discounted room rates or room upgrade from partnered hotels. We are also using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get the Bangkok Airways message across to a wider and interactive audience. Today, we have more than 50,000 fans on Facebook and 30,000 on Twitter”
“Our current sales plans include a convenient 24-hour ticket payment at Counter Service while travel insurance has been made easy through Bangkok Airways web purchase. Bangkok Airways has also joined forces with Accertify, a credit card online fraud solution company, to ensure that all web purchases are secure, and to ensure complete customer confidence. Bangkok Airways will also shortly introduce an online seat booking facility.”
M.L. Nandhika Varavarn, Vice President – Corporate Communications said, “Our boutique service seen in 2011 with the ground-breaking Bangkok-Mumbai and Bangkok-Dhaka routes will receive increasing support and promotion. Also for the first time in fifteen years we have introduced a new uniform for our frontline staff. Cabin attendants, ground staff, and reservation and ticketing staff will all wear the new blue-toned uniform designed by Polpat Asavaprapa, of “ASAVA.” It is expected that the new uniform will be ready for use by this December. In June, we organised the very successful “Queen’s Cup Bangkok Airways-SAT Samui Golf Tournament 2011” to promote tourism in Koh Samui and demonstrate the island’s suitability as a sports event destination. The island is also the venue for our CSR activity – “11th Samui Art Camp for Kids.
“Later this year, we will also stage the second year of “Samui Island Marathon HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Cup”. We expect to welcome around 3,000 runners this year.
“As part of our branding programme we recently launched, “Exclusive Chefs in the Sky by Bangkok Airways” in which we join with leading hotels and stylish restaurants to create special onboard menus. Greyhound Café, The Pavilion, Phuket and Four Seasons resort, Chiang Mai are all taking part in this special; service available from now onwards.
“Towards the end of 2011 our advertising campaign will see the launch of “My Love, My Traveller” – the sequel to the 2010 “Love at First Flight” campaign. Our aim is to give our Thai customers a better understanding of our boutique service.”
“To speak to a broader audience and to highlight the modern nature of Bangkok Airways we chose Khun Goi, Saturday Seiko and Khun Yong, Armchair as our presenters because of their passion for travel. And Ogilvy and Mather Advertising secured the services of a celebrated movie director for this particular television commercial,” M.L. Nandhika concluded.
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About Bangkok Airways Co., Ltd
Bangkok Airways (www.bangkokair.com), with the ASIA’S BOUTIQUE AIRLINE slogan, is the first private airline established in Thailand since 1968. Taking off daily with about a hundred flights per day from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok Airways flies travellers from around the world to more than twenty exquisite destinations across Thailand and Asia. Samui, Phuket, Trat (Koh Chang), Maldives are amongst the hottest beach selections, while Sukhothai, Luang Prabang, Siem Reap (Angkor) are World Heritage sites.
Bangkok Airways is the only airline in Asia to have won the Skytrax Best Regional Airline for six consecutive years from 2004 – 2009. As a member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Bangkok Airways continues to provide comfort at an uncompromised safety standard to all passengers.
Corporate Communications, Bangkok Airways Co., Ltd
Tel. 0-2265-5670-2, 0-2265-5686 Fax 0-2265-5665
E-mail: [email protected]