Any Chance For Low Cost Carrier Flying To/from Pattaya

[samgrowth]

I must have live in South East Asia for too long to love low cost carriers like AirAsia & Tiger & JetStar.

It would be really nice for them to fly to/from U-Tapow, saving a lot of tourist on a "Beach Run" to have to use Swampy.

Initial route to Phuket, Bali, Lankawi, Krabi, Samui from Pattaya will be great.

And perhaps adds Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Chiangmai later.

What do you think?

PS. Please do not turn this into a low cost carriers bashing discussion. There are various discussion in this form on going already.

[ovenman]

I've never gotten the impression that the military is all that keen on increasing the amount of commercial traffic using U-Tapao.

[aussiechick]

Bangkok Airways are the only commercial airline to use Utapao. Pattaya - Samui (PG does flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Samui) and Pattaya - Phuket.

Charter flights use Utapao all year round.

[siam2007]

Bangkok Airways are the only commercial airline to use Utapao. Pattaya - Samui (PG does flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Samui) and Pattaya - Phuket.

Charter flights use Utapao all year round.

that was not was the OP asked. He probably knows that by himself.

samgrowth, I as well live here too long and don't wanna miss the LCCs, they have dramatically increased my travelling-life. thanks to them I have seen so many lovely places within a few years, places I would probably never have seen in my life due to the cost of the "full-service-carriers".

though, people in Europe love those LCCs too and those airlines make up a big part of the air traffic in Europe already..... and sometimes they are even cheaper than those in Asia.

your questions: I think it is not PROFITABLE at the moment for LCCs to fly to U-Tapao. the thing is, Bangkok Air is using smaller ATR-72 planes (68-72 seats), whereas the B-737 or A-320 used by almost all LCCs have 180 seats, and difficult to fill them on a daily basis.

A flight to/from U-Tapao would almost entirely attract holidaymakers (or long-term-Expats), and I think that would not be sufficient to fill the seats and make the route profitable.

I remember that a few years ago, shortly after they started operations, TIGER indeed HAD plans to fly to UTP, but they never materialized. and as Bangkok Air already serves UTP - Samui and UTP - Phuket, I dont know which destinations could appeal to other LCCs. what I think is, that sooner or later Bangkok Air will have to say good-bye to their image as "Farang only / Holiday -Airline". simply because they can not fill the seats otherwise (for example, their flights to and from CM are usually only 25-50% occupied - wonder how they can survive). they already start to kinda "transform", as they have plenty of advertisements in Thai newspapers or on billboards.

but then, they are of course not really a "budget-airline" (though their fares to CM are often the cheapest of all fares available, cheaper than AirAsia or NOK - thats why I did fly BKK - CM with them about 10 times in the past 12 months).

the only "budget-carrier" that uses smaller planes is actually FIREFLY, but the distance from Penang or KL's Subang Airport is too long to make this profitable, I guess. as those TurboProps (they use ATR 72 as well) are much slower, it would take probably more than 3 hours or so from KL or Penang to UTP.

another possibility would be PBAir, particularly since they have a pact with NOK so their flights can be booked on NOK's website. But PBAir is, same as BKK AIR, a full-service-airline, and they probably think that routes to and out of UTP to anywhere else in the country would not be successfull (if they charge the usual THB 3.000, as they, for example, do to destinations such as Nan, Sakhon Nakon or Nakhon Phanom).

As there have been plans (or at least talks) to upgrade the facilities at UTP, maybe after any upgrading work is being done, this may attract other carriers, be it LCC or full-service-carriers.

So, let's just wait and see

Edited March 3, 2009 by siam2007

[samgrowth]

Yes I know that BangkokAir do quite a few flight to/from UTP. I only use them on a need to use basis, on to go to Samui.

I agree that at current situation, it would be difficult to fill up a A320 (180 seats) on a daily basis. I just hope that LCC will come one day, maybe say fly twice a Phuket, twic a week Bali, etc.

Other than a lower fare, LCC can also take advantage of the lower landing fee, which I hope it will onpass to the pax.

Swampy departure airport tax alone is 700 Bahts. On the extreme, I bought a KUL-BKK for less than 50 MYR (500 Baht) becuase the KL LCCT departure tax is only 25 MYR.

[think_too_mut]

I must have live in South East Asia for too long to love low cost carriers like AirAsia & Tiger & JetStar.

It would be really nice for them to fly to/from U-Tapow, saving a lot of tourist on a "Beach Run" to have to use Swampy.

Initial route to Phuket, Bali, Lankawi, Krabi, Samui from Pattaya will be great.

And perhaps adds Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Chiangmai later.

What do you think?

I think you have not been to South East Asia for very long. You would have known that JetStar discontinued flights Pattaya (Utapao) - Singapore 4 years ago.

Contrary to your opinion that it would be "really nice for them to fly to/from U-Tapow, saving a lot of tourist on a "Beach Run" to have to use Swampy." they found that 3-6 passengers per flight had left that "being nice" to the company to absorb the terrible loss.

Interest was so shockingly low they barely lasted a few months.

We discussed it back in March 2005.

[torrenova]

The reality is that the airport is not geared up for it, the infrastructure could not handle it and most importantly, people do not want it. There is just not the demand.

I use PB Air from Bangkok to Buriram and though it is an Embraer with 50 seat capacity, I have only once seen it anywhere near full. Usually it is about 40% full. Now remember that the alternative is a crap drive to Buriram and the airports at Surin and the like are not served and you get the picture. Getting from Pattaya to Swampy and on to Singapore or anywhere is easy, dead easy. In fact, from some places in Pattaya, it is easier and quicker to get to Swampy than U-Tapao.

I'd love to see it being better utilised but I doubt it ever will. If I want to go to Pattaya from Buriram (or vice versa) I fly to Bangkok and get a taxi. Or I drive my truck. Failing that I could get the NCA VIP bus. NO need for a direct air service.

[think_too_mut]

The reality is that the airport is not geared up for it, the infrastructure could not handle it and most importantly, people do not want it. There is just not the demand.

....

I'd love to see it being better utilised but I doubt it ever will.

Utapao...not utililised: