Thailand Falls Behind In Race To Be Air Hub

[george]

Thailand falls behind in race to be air hub

Fee hikes will deter airlines and opening of Bangkok's new airport also looks like it will be delayed, says industry grouping

BANGKOK - Thailand is losing the fierce battle to become Asia's air hub and planned increases in already high charges will prompt more airlines to look elsewhere, industry experts warned yesterday.

Regional rivals Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong have aggressive expansion plans but Bangkok's delayed US$3.7 billion (S$6.3 billion) new airport has little chance of opening in September next year as scheduled, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

The industry claimed 13 airlines had stopped flights out of Bangkok during the past four years because of costs it said were significantly higher than those of key airport competitors in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Iata, the trade association of the world's aviation industry with 270 airline members, said Bangkok charged three times more than the Kuala Lumpur airport for the use of its facilities.

It cost airlines 75 per cent less overall to fly to Singapore than to Bangkok, Iata said. Landing a Boeing 737 in Bangkok currently costs US$549, compared with US$313 in Singapore.

After the Bangkok airport's Oct 1 hike, it will be US$603.

'The impact of user fees is tremendous and can make the difference between profits and bankruptcy,'said Iata chief spokesman Anthony Concil.

Speaking after attending a seminar with government officials, tourism industry representatives and other allied industries to review progress on Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport, Mr Concil said the Thai government had not responded to the industry's request to reconsider the fee hike.

From Oct 1, the government intends to raise by 20 per cent the fee that international airlines must pay every time one of their planes lands at Bangkok.

Another 15 per cent hike is planned for next year, in what the Iata fears is to prepare the industry for another fee increase when Suvarnabhumi opens for business.

Despite low-cost airlines from across Asia moving into Bangkok's traffic gap, officials said Thailand's ambitious target of doubling tourist numbers to 20 million by 2008 was jeopardised by cash-strapped airlines cutting services on cost grounds.

'The traffic will drift,' said Iata director of industry charges Jeff Poole. 'Nobody's saying there won't be growth in Thailand but it could be much more.'

Because of the high costs of doing business in Bangkok, British Airways has moved its hub operations to Singapore. Italy's Alitalia also suspended operations, as did South African Airways.

The Iata said the opening of the Suvarnabhumi airport, designed to handle up to 45 million passengers a year, was likely to be delayed for 12 to 18 months.

Building had hardly started for the air traffic control tower, which takes the longest in airport construction projects.

-- AFP, AP 2004-09-07

HIGH AIRLINES CHARGES SET TO GET HIGHER

LANDING a Boeing 737 in Bangkok currently costs US$549, compared with US$313 in Singapore. After Bangkok airport's Oct 1 hike, it will be US$603.

'The impact of user fees is tremendous and can make the difference between profits and bankruptcy,'said International Air Transport Association (Iata) chief spokesman Anthony Concil.

From Oct 1, the Thai government intends to raise by 20 per cent the fee that international airlines must pay every time one of their planes lands at Bangkok.

Another 15 per cent hike is planned for next year, in what the Iata fears is to prepare the industry for another fee increase when the Suvarnabhumi airport opens for business.

[Sphere]

Thailand falls behind in race to be air hub

But look at the bright side - No one can beat us in the Hot Air Hub race!

[ovenman]

BANGKOK - Thailand is losing the fierce battle to become Asia's air hub and planned increases in already high charges will prompt more airlines to look elsewhere, industry experts warned yesterday.

Fear not, I am told that the prestigious honor for being the hub of high landing fees is still a wide open race.

[Doi Thong]

You see guys, we are falling to be a real hub when we can do it, just adjust the prices, but who care...:-) Lets abandon it and dream about health/IT/Space..the things we're REALLY dont understand. Viva Toxin and Thai F Thai.

[Darknight]

I would vote for bangkok being the DREAM HUB OF ASIA

dreem..dr dr dr..

oh stupid song , bugger off

[george]

Landing fee hike raises eyebrows

BANGKOK: -- It is no longer news that Airports of Thailand plans to raise landing fees at Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang next month.

Many airlines have been crying foul and the local tourism industry has filed complaints. While airlines are looking at higher operating costs on top of high fuel prices, local tourism operators fear the increased fees could discourage people from touring Thailand.

This move has also caught the eye of other airport operators around the world.

They are surprised with the move. Every country wants tourists, who bring more jobs.

Malaysia’s main airport cut its fee in half for a period of five years to boost tourist arrivals. A similar strategy was adopted in Finland, which is trying to shape itself into an aviation gateway to Europe.

As in Thailand, the Helsinki airport is run by a state enterprise.

Helsinki-based Civil Aviation Administration director-general Mikko Talvite said recently that once the entire airport is completed and able to accommodate the targeted number of tourists, the airport operator would likely slash its landing fee just to attract more airlines. In turn, the logic goes, those airlines would be hauling more tourists. That’s what Talvite and the government are hoping.

Indeed, Thailand is also looking to expand its tourism. Still, the government’s target of 20 million looks a bit too ambitious.

The goal seems at odds with increasing the fees for airlines carrying foreigners to the Kingdom. This might sound like a trivial problem, but when you also take into account other trivialities like cheating by hotels, swindling touts, traffic problems and pollution, the aggregate could be enough to start denting tourism numbers instead of growing them.

-- The Nation 2004-09-14

[taxexile]

other trivialities like cheating by hotels, swindling touts, traffic problems and pollution, the aggregate could be enough to start denting tourism numbers instead of growing them.

trivialities !!!!! these are stories that tourists remember and take home with them and should not be thought of as trivial.

[ovenman]

Indeed, Thailand is also looking to expand its tourism. Still, the government’s target of 20 million looks a bit too ambitious.

The goal seems at odds with increasing the fees for airlines carrying foreigners to the Kingdom.

This example in a nutshell, is indicative of an underlying problem that plagues many of the grandiose schemes the Thai government has for becoming the hub of this and that. There often seems to be an utter lack of coordination between the various governmental agencies involved in these schemes, each agency being its own little fiefdom and not willing to cede one iota of control of some aspect of the scheme that falls under its jurisdiction.

[astral]

Helsinki-based Civil Aviation Administration director-general Mikko Talvite said recently that once the entire airport is completed and able to accommodate the targeted number of tourists, the airport operator would likely slash its landing fee just to attract more airlines. In turn, the logic goes, those airlines would be hauling more tourists. That’s what Talvite and the government are hoping.

But logic requires a thought process that is not taught in Thailand.

Sad.

See the article in the Bangkok Post 13th Sept