Bangkok Air

[EXS]

We recently travelled with Bangkok Air from Krabi-Bangkok.

We booked the flights following a recommendation that they were one of the more reliable carriers with a good reputation and chose them as we needed to arrive punctually for an engagement.

We were advised at check-in there was a short delay due to bad weather. After this cleared the other flights scheduled for similar times resumed service. However we were left waiting with no explanation.

We later learned we were waiting for a smaller and slower ATR type plane to arrive from Phuket. This seemed to be for economic reasons given the number of empty seats on this smaller plane an Airbus would have been very empty.

We eventually arrived at Bangkok 3 hrs late.

No information was given at Krabi other than the initial 1hr delay due to the weather.

No apology was given by any ground staff or by the crew on the plane.

The letter I received following my complaint was a joke. (Attached for your amusement)

Did they really think I would believe all the passengers destined for Krabi would suddenly choose to offload in Phuket! (the plane arrived empty)

Unsurprisingly their complaint webpage did not work!

20080207180040.pdf

[game4shame]

sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I would still say bangkok air wipe the floor with any other domestic airline though.

possibly just caught them on a bad day.

[LaoPo]

3 hrs late ?...hmmmm

2 years ago my wife and I flew BKK Airways from BKK>>>>Hangzhou in China on a 4 hour flight.

After 5 hours we landed again in Bangkok....

No explanation other than some 'technical' problem...

LaoPo

[Zpete]

We recently travelled with Bangkok Air from Krabi-Bangkok.

We booked the flights following a recommendation that they were one of the more reliable carriers with a good reputation and chose them as we needed to arrive punctually for an engagement.

We were advised at check-in there was a short delay due to bad weather. After this cleared the other flights scheduled for similar times resumed service. However we were left waiting with no explanation.

We later learned we were waiting for a smaller and slower ATR type plane to arrive from Phuket. This seemed to be for economic reasons given the number of empty seats on this smaller plane an Airbus would have been very empty.

We eventually arrived at Bangkok 3 hrs late.

No information was given at Krabi other than the initial 1hr delay due to the weather.

No apology was given by any ground staff or by the crew on the plane.

The letter I received following my complaint was a joke. (Attached for your amusement)

Did they really think I would believe all the passengers destined for Krabi would suddenly choose to offload in Phuket! (the plane arrived empty)

Unsurprisingly their complaint webpage did not work!

Just read the Bankok Air missive.

Best they can do.

Get a non English writer to send such babblecock.

Supposed to put you off.

I have been OFF BKK Air since 04.

Air Asia does me now.

Always, well often, late.

Me too, suits me fine.........LOL

BKK Air gives ya cuppa and cake before boarding, free internet, also, snack and drinky on board.

And charges twice as much.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Never had any problems with PG, thanks for sharing your misfortune but, it hasn't put me off PG.

See the reviews here from Skytrax - they would appear to confirm my view. http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/bangkok.htm

How do you know the plane was full when it arrived in HKT? If it was already half empty then perhaps the passengers did indeed get off - fear, unsure of the length of delay, final destination are just some of the potential contributing factors.

I've checked this route out & it isn't exactly PG's shining light - on time 66% of the time & excessively late 21% with an average delay of 57 mins. TG's Krabi departures are typically on time in mid/high 80 percentages, average delay 11 mins. I'd still take PG, but allow more time.

[wilko]

I went to meet a friend arriving from UK at Samui Airport....he phoned me telling me he'd bought a ticket on the next flight to Samui which arrived just before midday.

It became apparent that the flight had been delatyed and tyhen a notice confirming this came up on the monitors.....each time a different delay time so I ended up waiting at te airfiled for several hours. Eventually I goe a call from my friensd telling me he was back in Bkk!!!!

Apparently the flight had left as usual and they flew to within visual contact of Samui......then turned round and flew back to Bkk.....no explanation was offered for this and on landing thety were thanked for flying with Bkk air.

They later flew this flight and several others together on one of the jet planes...he arrived at 6 or 7 in the evening.

no explanation was ever forthcoming....although there had been a bush fire near the airstrip, but a couple of plavnes had landed and taken off in that time.

As my friend said later...when he bought a return ticket, he's assumed they would land on Samui before going back to Bkk.

[peter991]

Touch wood, no problems yet with Bangkok Airways. Flew with them recently from Singapore to Samui. Then from Samui to Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Not the cheapest to fly with - but good service.

Peter

[invalidusername]

I havent been too impressed with BKK Airways.

Granted the lounge is a nice touch, but the CNX-BKK flight is on an old heap that takes 2 hours to get there. And the inside of the planes really arent that nice and are quite cramped.

To top it all off, both times I have flown with them (CNX-BKK) and (BKK-PNP) They have loaded us in the bus and made us wait there 15 minutes in an idleing bus filled with exhaust fumes.

[seonai]

I've always had an ok experience with BKK Airways to either BKK or PNP, BA London to Edinburgh is a much worse service

[game4shame]

I've always had an ok experience with BKK Airways to either BKK or PNP, BA London to Edinburgh is a much worse service

BA are heaven compared to the awful BMI.

[lomatopo]

... and chose them as we needed to arrive punctually for an engagement.

Mistake number one, planning on arriving punctually when using public transportation is just well, poor planning. Hundreds of thousands of passengers fly PG happily each year. They have a decent on-time record and good customer satisfaction numbers. You flew one segment ever and had a relatively minor delay, and all of a sudden this means an entire airline is a joke? I understand that people, especially infrequent fliers, have unreasonable expectations re: air travel but honestly its about the same as taking a bus these days, albeit a lot quicker and safer.

One of the top complaints air travelers have is the lack of communication re: irrops (irregular operations). Many airlines now provide detailed information and I'm surprised PG didn't do a better job keeping the OP informed on the status of their flight. I can't be sure I followed the OP's exact situation but it sounds like PG had to substitute an aircraft, perhaps due to a mechanical/schedule/crew/weather issue? What can anyone say except, this happens. In order to remain profitable airlines now need to utilize their aircraft as much as possible so schedules are probably a bit too tight. But then consumers want cheap airfares so...

[torrenova]

I've used them to Samui, Phuket and to and from Pattaya and I've no real complaints. You could book online and see accurate fares long before some of these cheap carriers arrived. Of course, expensive for some legs but not massively so. Food is rubbish but no great worry.

I'd be more concerned with a lack of information but I see that as a problem with the sirline industry the world over and a particular problem in all sectors of the thai economy.