Video International flights begin at Hua Hin airport

[Jonathan Fairfield]

International flights begin at Hua Hin airport

 

Image: TNA Mcot

 

The first commercial international flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hua Hin arrived on Friday.

 

The maiden flight landed at the seaside resort as scheduled at 11am, with 150 passengers on board.

 

Deputy Transport Minister Pairin Chuchotethavorn who oversaw the welcoming ceremony said the flights would increase the amount of tourists visiting Hua Hin and be a big boost for the local economy.

 

Currently the airport can accommodate around 300 passengers per hour but plans are already afoot to expand the airport and improve facilities to handle more passengers in the future.

 

Air Asia will now offer return flights four times per week.

 

Flights will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing Kuala Lumpur at 10am local time, arriving in Hua Hin at 11am.

 

From Hua Hin flights depart at 11:30am local time arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 2:35pm.

 

In addition to the Hua Hin - Kuala Lumpur route, earlier this month Thaivisa learned that Air Asia is looking into the possibility of launching a Hua Hin - Chiang Mai route.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-05-19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NanLaew]

Great news!

 

They have time to grab lunch before catching the ferry to Pattaya for dinner.

[Psychic]

Hope they expand into more Thailand locations as well as other neighbouring countries.

[Expatthailover]

How many white tourists start their journey from KL?

I know getting to KL from Oz is a right clart on. Booking with AA is a pain as well. Plus their reputation isnt the best.

Stick with thai airways

[Radar501]

Cha Am must feel like the less successful sibling to big brother Hua Hin.   Doesn't get much of a mention (which may actually be a good thing for the quiet gentle folk who choose to call it home.)

 

Interesting to note that the the Petchaburi - Prachuab Khiri Khan provincial border runs smack through the Hua Hin Airport.

[superal]

Flights will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing Kuala Lumpur at 10am local time, arriving in Hua Hin at 11am.

 

From Hua Hin flights depart at 11:30am local time arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 2:35pm.

 

To those in the know ,  from the time of arrival to the time of departure is only 30 minutes , a quick turn around . Is that enough time to carry out all the aircraft mechanical and safety checks ? 

[HHTel]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

The maiden flight landed at the seaside resort as scheduled at 11am, with 150 passengers on board.

It was actually 40 mins late taking off from KL and 17 mins late arriving!  The return journey was also delayed.

[GLewis]

1 hour ago, superal said:

Flights will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing Kuala Lumpur at 10am local time, arriving in Hua Hin at 11am.

 

From Hua Hin flights depart at 11:30am local time arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 2:35pm.

 

To those in the know ,  from the time of arrival to the time of departure is only 30 minutes , a quick turn around . Is that enough time to carry out all the aircraft mechanical and safety checks ? 

 No check necessary its just a turn around flight. Most of Air Asia and the low budget carriers operate like this. Come in take on passengers and go.. 

[bkk6060]

The Chiang Mai to HH sounds like a great idea.  Get the Chinese to HH they will love it..

[khundon]

That will be handy. A quick flight to KL at 11.30, a couple of days R&R there, then hop on a plane to Australia. 

Look forward to trying it out. 

[KhunBENQ]

Actually a KUL (10:00) -> HHQ (11:05) -> KUL route.

Not perfect for a one day border run

But an open jaw HHQ -> KUL -> DMK possible.

 

[KhunBENQ]

 

3 hours ago, GLewis said:

No check necessary its just a turn around flight. Most of Air Asia and the low budget carriers operate like this. Come in take on passengers and go.. 

Only very basic walk around visual inspection at best.

Check of tires, fan blades, visual damages, leaks etc.

I once fell victim to an oil leak of a plane that came from Bangkok and should turn around shortly.

[KhunBENQ]

5 hours ago, Expatthailover said:

I know getting to KL from Oz is a right clart on

"Clart on"? Like arduous?

 

But why?

Don't want to fly Malaysian Air or AsiaX?

Both fly Perth, Sydney, Melbourne nonstop.

5:30 hours to Perth.

Malaysia also serves Auckland.

[observer90210]

If this bunch of hottie Air Asia flight attendants are on board, I'll take that plane every week !!

 

 

[essox essox]

how long will it last for??

Flights to Singapore from U'tapao are no longer!!!!

[hottrader77]

14 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Great news!

 

They have time to grab lunch before catching the ferry to Pattaya for dinner.

its a good job it was not a malasian airways plane as it might have disappeared !

[geriatrickid]

This is wonderful news and will provide a much need  route for the Malaysian and connecting pax who have hesitated visiting Hua Hin because of the lengthy time to get there. I hope that Thai Smile or Air Asia can be convinced to consider the Hong Kong route as well, since Hong Kong is a key SE Asia hub for connecting pax.  

 

14 hours ago, Expatthailover said:

How many white tourists start their journey from KL?

I know getting to KL from Oz is a right clart on. Booking with AA is a pain as well. Plus their reputation isnt the best.

Stick with thai airways

"White" tourists are not more important, nor a more valuable demographic as "non white" tourists. Apparently, you are unaware of the key demographics. The most valuable tourists are Asian. Your superior white people  are not as important as you believe them to be. 

 

AA is American Airlines. FD is Air Asia. 

 

Thai Airways  has pulled out of  much of the  domestic market and intends to  withdraw  from the price sensitive short international routes. The only reason why TG is still servicing SIN and HKIA is because of the large number of high end pax willing to pay for  premium cabins.

It will not fly the Hua Hin route for the simple fact that it would lose money on the route.

Air Asia's reputation is sufficient enough to establish it as the dominant LCC in the region, with some of the best organic growth of the LLCs. I am not a fan, but as far as the market niche goes, Air Asia is the leader.

 

14 hours ago, Radar501 said:

Cha Am must feel like the less successful sibling to big brother Hua Hin.   Doesn't get much of a mention (which may actually be a good thing for the quiet gentle folk who choose to call it home.)

Interesting to note that the the Petchaburi - Prachuab Khiri Khan provincial border runs smack through the Hua Hin Airport.

Cha Am may not get much of a mention, but it is considered part of the greater tourism market. I believe that the differentiating factor between Hua Hin and Cha Am is that Hua Hin is a  primary destination of regional Thais (i.e. Bangkok) who visit for short stays, e.g. weekends or  civil holidays. Cha Am is more of a longer stay  destination. The tourism treatment is therefore different.

 

13 hours ago, superal said:

To those in the know ,  from the time of arrival to the time of departure is only 30 minutes , a quick turn around . Is that enough time to carry out all the aircraft mechanical and safety checks ? 

Yes. Pilot has a quick walk around.

 

8 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Only very basic walk around visual inspection at best.

Check of tires, fan blades, visual damages, leaks etc.

I once fell victim to an oil leak of a plane that came from Bangkok and should turn around shortly.

The preflight walk around is the same whether it is on the Hua Hin flight or Don Muang to  Ubon.

 

6 hours ago, essox essox said:

how long will it last for??

Flights to Singapore from U'tapao are no longer!!!!

If the pax loads are sufficient it will last.  The problem with the short lived former  flights was one of schedule and of price.  I see that the airfare is starting at 2957 baht which is more than reasonable.

 

I would however be more concerned about the potential of rip off transit fares from the airport to Hua Hin town that are sure to occur.  It costs about 200 baht to go the short distance from the Hua Hin  BKK bus terminal to Hua Hin (e.g. BluPort/Market Village), and that's riding in the back of  an uncomfortable pickup truck  taxi. . I won't be surprised if the pickup truck transporters try to get 300 baht. The key is going to be providing safe and reasonable transport service from the airport.

I've noticed that the tuk tuks and imitation taxis  are becoming less polite and far more aggressive in the style of Phuket.

[RocketDog]

21 hours ago, Radar501 said:

Cha Am must feel like the less successful sibling to big brother Hua Hin.   Doesn't get much of a mention (which may actually be a good thing for the quiet gentle folk who choose to call it home.)

 

Interesting to note that the the Petchaburi - Prachuab Khiri Khan provincial border runs smack through the Hua Hin Airport.

I live in Chaam and am sooooooo grateful that Cha-am is off the tourist radar. I live in fear of the Chinese tourist tsunami inundating us when it comes in force. The local ecosystem is simply not built for such mass invasions of ravenous species.

 

[David Walden]

On 5/19/2018 at 9:11 AM, NanLaew said:

Great news!

 

They have time to grab lunch before catching the ferry to Pattaya for dinner.

Looks good, have already booked a flight Hue Hin to KL in July and then onto Perth Aus. Then back early Sept.  I hope it is successful.  It's a real dogs dinner Catching a bus from Cha-am to BKK and then get a bus or train  BKK to DMK.  Good luck AirAsia.  

[Docno]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 11:14 AM, Expatthailover said:

How many white tourists start their journey from KL?

I know getting to KL from Oz is a right clart on. Booking with AA is a pain as well. Plus their reputation isnt the best.

Stick with thai airways

Interesting. I fly AA several times a year (6-10) to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, etc. with no problem. Bookings seem straightforward, and haven't had any major delays (I stopped using Tiger way back because they were only rarely on time). The only thing I don't like is the damn check in line-up at Don Muang if you're there at a bad time. Thai Air is great, but you typically pay a premium for that... 

[David Walden]

On 5/20/2018 at 11:42 AM, David Walden said:

Looks good, have already booked a flight Hue Hin to KL in July and then onto Perth Aus. Then back early Sept.  I hope it is successful.  It's a real dogs dinner Catching a bus from Cha-am to BKK and then get a bus or train  BKK to DMK.  Good luck AirAsia.  

I have just a few days ago arrived back in W.A. Aus after my 4 month holiday in Cha-am, my 8th 4 months holiday in Thailand recently.  Departing from Heu Hin to KL and  then back home to Perth W.A..  I would have to say that all that was promised by AirAsia was provided and was good.  On time very polite staff,  cheap dinner $5 Aus  very good for the price.  Yes there was the 7.5 hrs delay for the connection KL to Perth all was as was expected.  All good back to Aus.  Caught a motor cycle taxi for the 30 min trip Cha-am to the airport.

 A very nice thing happened with motor cycle taxi man who took me from Cha-am to the Hue Hin airport.  I gave him a tip of which I thought was Bt50 he followed me into the airport and and said "you gave me Bt500 note did you only mean a Bt50 tip"  He looked like he needed it more then me so that's what happened.  I don't usually give money away like that but this was a exception.  Yes this was LOS.

PS the plane was just about full so this suggest the service which is Sun, Mon, Wed, and Fri is profitable.  I hope it continues or is extended, now is the low tourist season.  Much better then making your departure from DMK.

[jimster]

On 5/19/2018 at 1:53 PM, bkk6060 said:

The Chiang Mai to HH sounds like a great idea.  Get the Chinese to HH they will love it..

Plenty of Chinese in Hua Hin even without any flights there from China. Only a matter of time before China Eastern, Lucky Air, Ruili Air and buzhidao air start flying there though. Meanwhile THAI Airways loses out because it has this bizarre obsession with Bangkok, as if there were no other places of interest in Thailand.