Bangkok Airways
| File:Bangkok Airways Logo.gif | |||||||
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| Founded | 1968 (As Sahakol Air) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Suvarnabhumi Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Samui Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Flyer Bonus | ||||||
| Fleet size | 17 (+6 orders) | ||||||
| Destinations | 15 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand | ||||||
| Key people | Dr.Prasert Prasatthong-osoth(President) | ||||||
| Website | www.bangkokair.com | ||||||
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Bangkok Airways Co., Ltd. is a regional airline based in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand.[1] It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos, Maldives, Burma and Singapore. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.[2]
History
The airline was established in 1968 as Sahakol Air operating air-taxi services under contract from OICC, an American construction company, USOM and a number of other organisations engaged in oil and natural-gas exploration in the Gulf of Thailand. It began scheduled services in 1986, becoming Thailand's first privately-owned domestic airline. It re-branded to become Bangkok Airways in 1989. The airline is owned by Dr Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth (92.31%), Sahakol Estate (4.3%), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (1.2%) and other shareholders (2.19%). It has 1,903 employees and also wholly owns subsidiary airline Siem Reap Airways[2].
It built its own airport on Koh Samui, which was opened in April 1989 and offers direct flights between the island and Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Krabi, Pattaya, Phuket and Singapore[3]. The airline opened its second airport at Sukhothai Province in 1996. A third airport was built in Trat Province, opening in March 2003 to serve the burgeoning tourism destination of Ko Chang.
The airline made its first foray into jet aircraft in 2000, when it started adding Boeing 717s to its fleet. Up until then, Bangkok Airways had flown propeller-driven aircraft, primarily the ATR-72. It had also operated the De Havilland Canada Dash 8, the Shorts 330 and for a short time, a Fokker F100. The carrier added another jet, the Airbus A320, to its fleet in 2004.
Bangkok Airways plans to order widebody aircraft as part of its ambition to expand its fleet. It wants to add its first widebody jets in 2006 to serve longer-haul destinations such as London, India and Japan and is looking at Airbus A330, Airbus A340 and Boeing 787 aircraft. In December 2005, Bangkok Airways announced it had decided to negotiate an order for six Airbus A350-800 aircraft in a 258-seat configuration, to be delivered to the airline commencing 2013.[4]
In 2007, President and CEO of Bangkok Airways Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth received from Kaewkwan Watcharoethai, the Royal Household Secretary-General, the royal warrant appointment to display the Garuda emblem.[5]
_at_Luang_Prabang_International_Airport.jpg)
Destinations
Bangkok Airways serves the following destinations as at December 2010 [6]:
- Bangladesh
- Dhaka - Shahjalal International Airport [begins 27 March]
- Burma
- Cambodia
- People's Republic of China
- Hong Kong - Hong Kong International Airport
- Guilin - Guilin Liangjiang International Airport [resumes 1 February]
- India
- Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport [begins 2 March][7]
- Laos
- Maldives
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi Airport - main hub
- Chiang Mai - Chiang Mai International Airport
- Ko Samui - Samui Airport - focus city
- Krabi - Krabi Airport
- Lampang - Lampang Airport
- Pattaya - U-Tapao International Airport
- Phuket - Phuket International Airport
- Sukhothai - Sukhothai Airport
- Trat - Trat Airport
Terminated Destinations
- Burma - Bagan
- China - Hangzhou, Jinghong, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Zhengzhou
- Japan - Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Okinawa
- Laos - Pakse
- Macau
- Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
- Thailand - Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Surin, Hat Yai, Hua Hin, Mae Hong Son, Trang, Loei, Ranong
- Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang
Codeshare agreements
Bangkok Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Fleet
The Bangkok Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of January 2010):
| Aircraft | Total (order) |
Passengers (Blue Ribbon/Economy) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 6 | 120 (12/108) 138 (0/138) 144 (0/144) |
|
| Airbus A320-200 | 3 | 162 (0/162) | |
| Airbus A350-800 | (6) | n/a | |
| ATR-72-500 | 8 | 70 (0/70) |
Incidents and accidents
- On 7 December 1987, Sahakol Air Hawker Siddeley HS 748 Series 2A (registration HS-THH), was damaged beyond repair after it overran the runway on landing at Udon Thani Airport (UTH) with no fatalities.[8]
- On 21 November 1990,Bangkok Airways Flight 125 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 crashed on Koh Samui while attempting to land in heavy rain and high winds. All 38 people on board perished.[9]
- On 4 August 2009, Bangkok Airways Flight 266, operated by an ATR-72 between Krabi and Koh Samui skidded off the runway, killing one of the pilots. The 68 passengers were evacuated.[10] Of the passengers evacuated, 6 sustained serious injuries while another 4 were treated for minor injuries.[11]
References
- ^ "Contact Us." Bangkok Airways. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. p. 84.
- ^ Airways Flight Schedule, Retrieved on 26 November 2008
- ^ Bangkok Airways selects A350 for new long range services 30 December 2005
- ^ "Bangkok Airways receive the Royal Garuda Emblem". Travel Blackboard. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ Routemap
- ^ http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/208772/bangkok-airways-expands-to-india
- ^ http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19871207-1
- ^ Koh Samui crash
- ^ [1]
- ^ Shearing, Caroline (5 August 2009). "Koh Samui airport reopens after plane crash". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
External links
