22 December 2008

THAI to throttle back on long-haul routes

BANGKOK - Thai Airways International (THAI) is considering rerouting long haul flights, including those to New Zealand, to focus on regional routes.

Among the long-haul routes being evaluated are those between Bangkok and South Africa, and Bangkok and New Zealand.

The company is likely to halt the Bangkok-Johannesburg service and revise its Bangkok-Auckland route, according to reports in the The Nation newspaper.

The airline cut back the Bangkok-New York direct flight in June this year and also reduced frequencies between Bangkok and Auckland from a daily flight to four a week.

The airline also revised the Bangkok-Los Angeles routes by cutting the non-stop direct flight, but retaining the Bangkok-Tokyo-Los Angeles route.

However, all routes between Bangkok and Europe remain unchanged.

Pandit Chanaphai, executive vice president for THAIÃ¢â¬â¢s commercial department, said the company would be widening its network and would increase frequencies in the region, particularly to China, India and the Middle East.

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Indochina skies getting kind of crowded.

One has to question Thai's thinking on re-focussing on regional routes. AirAsia leads the way in the region, with the copy-cat named Tiger filling in the gaps. Bangkok Airways and possibly Siem Reap Airways (possibly banned by Europe) along with Jetstar Pacific (VietNam) along with a couple of other Vietnamese startups plus China, Macau and HongKong it would appear that there is little opportunity for Thai to exploit notwithstanding their excellent service reputation. If Thai cuts back on their BKK/LHR service AirAsia X will be available to take up the slack. Guess the unlucky passengers losing TG service will have to learn to suffer poor service.

By Jon Hewson, Thursday, January 1, 2009