Pb Air Gone Bust ? All Flights Cancelled

[siam2007]

PB AIR suspended all flights with immediate effect, according to their website

maybe somebody has more information what happened ?

another airline gone bust ?

or will they be swallowed by Bangkok Air ?

[worldfun]

interesting. bust is very likely. shame though. was/is thaksin a shareholder/board member? lol

[Mr Conrad]

Also on this thread in the Isaan forum http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Pbair-Website-t311900.html

Best Regards

Mr Conrad

[siam2007]

after doing some more research, I heard that they had a lot of open bills and particularly didn't pay the leasing rates for the leased aircraft from BKK AIR.

PB AIR operated EMBRAER 145 before that, if I remember that right, and such kind of aircraft is certainly oversized for daily flights to those minor destinations. Even the ATR seem to be too big.

Maybe the new HAPPY AIR should take over with their compact SAAB-340 aircraft.

pity for those communities there in Isaan and the North (Nan) that they are CUT OFF from quick transport to Bangkok at the moment.....

and apart from that, PBAIR seems to have a lousy (Western!) management......

[Mosha]

They were supposed to be leasing 2 Saab 340s, but CH Aviation shows 1 or 2 ATRs as stored.

[dhrobertson]

Typical Thailand. God I hate this place.

Called PB Air. Press 9 for English. "Sorry there is no extension 9"

PB Air have steadily been getting worse. The small Ebraer jets were fine. Comfortable and quick. I suspect they could not pay for them. Unbelievable since all flights were generally full and they charged top dollar as they have a monopoly.

So they rent from Bangkok Airways and can not pay the wet leasing fees. Even after stopping the full meal service. And newspapers. And beer.

Now I will have to use Nakhon or Udon.

As to the clown who suggested using the bus, some of us have work here. I do not have time to mess around like that.

How did PB Air manage to get the routes? Who bribed whom? Scandalous that Thai (who used to operate the routes) gave them away to a company who was not able to operate them.

Nobody in this God foresaken land seems to understand that sometimes you have to provide a service. Particularly when you have a monopoly.

As I said at the start, I hate the bloody place. You can keep your temples, bars, hookers, corruption and the rest. Get me back to civilisation please.

[MrWiggle]

Called PB Air. Press 9 for English. "Sorry there is no extension 9"....

That was very funny....

[dhrobertson]

Embraer 145 has 50 seats ATR has 72 (depending on exact model). The ATR takes 1 hr 50 mins to KOP, the Embrear took 1 hr. Price stayed the same. Service went down.

Now will have to use Ubon or Udon and drive the rest.

So much for opening up the Greater Mekong area.

[siam2007]

ATR turboprop is cheaper to maintain and operate.

Typical Farang-attitude-posting:

"How did PB Air manage to get the routes? Who bribed whom? Scandalous that Thai (who used to operate the routes) gave them away to a company who was not able to operate them."

That's nonsense of course. PBAir has ben operating these routes for many years. they were always expensive, but I know from several destinations, that their load factor was VERY LOW, but then they still did operate those routes.

Nobody had to be "bribed". these secondary destinations were not attractive for bigger airlines, or have limited runways, were B-737 or A-320 can not land. Every airline who would want to could use these airports, in fact I rather think those provincial administrations would welcome every airline with open arms and even offer incentives.....

Let's hope for the people at those secondary destinations, that another airline will be able and willing to serve these destinations again.

I agree that taking the bus from Nakhon Phanom or Sakon Nakhon or Nan is no alternative for people who travel for business or as government administration (and they made up most of PBAir passengers), as this is a hel_l OF A RIDE on a bus.....

but it will take time for any airline to establish these destinations again. most probably, the only aircraft that may be profitable to operate is the SAAB-340 which has only 34 seats or so.

I wonder that there obviously have been no reports in the BKK POST or THE NATION or any Thai-language business papers about this airline failure.....

[FarangFlyer]

these secondary destinations were not attractive for bigger airlines, or have limited runways, were B-737 or A-320 can not land. Every airline who would want to could use these airports, in fact I rather think those provincial administrations would welcome every airline with open arms and even offer incentives.....

You will get a 737 into/out of Nakhon Phanom or Sakhon Nakhon no problem with the normal route loads. Of course, passenger numbers would not make the route profitable. Also, to my knowledge within Thailand if an airline wishes to operate a domestic route (exception of Thai Airways), permission must be sought from DCA and Minister of Transport.

Agree about the Saab comment though, with pax numbers, it should be the 'man' for the job. Slower than the ATR though, but still faster than the bus!

As far as I know, Happy Air are operating out of Phuket/Langkawi with one aircraft, which is not yet on the Thai register. Even if it was, I doubt they would have the capacity to add Isaan to their existing routes with only one aircraft.

I would not be surprised, however, to see Nok Air operating these routes in the near future with the ex-Thai Airways ATRs.

Edited November 14, 2009 by FarangFlyer

[jackr]

As I said at the start, I hate the bloody place. You can keep your temples, bars, hookers, corruption and the rest. Get me back to civilisation please.

Fair f*cks, Muang Thai ain't for everyone and know I'd hate to be working and commuting here. I find a good counter to frustration and despair is to ponder the alternative for a few nanoseconds... any longer than that and the noose comes out.

[Mosha]

these secondary destinations were not attractive for bigger airlines, or have limited runways, were B-737 or A-320 can not land. Every airline who would want to could use these airports, in fact I rather think those provincial administrations would welcome every airline with open arms and even offer incentives.....

You will get a 737 into/out of Nakhon Phanom or Sakhon Nakhon no problem with the normal route loads. Of course, passenger numbers would not make the route profitable. Also, to my knowledge within Thailand if an airline wishes to operate a domestic route (exception of Thai Airways), permission must be sought from DCA and Minister of Transport.

Agree about the Saab comment though, with pax numbers, it should be the 'man' for the job. Slower than the ATR though, but still faster than the bus!

As far as I know, Happy Air are operating out of Phuket/Langkawi with one aircraft, which is not yet on the Thai register. Even if it was, I doubt they would have the capacity to add Isaan to their existing routes with only one aircraft.

I would not be surprised, however, to see Nok Air operating these routes in the near future with the ex-Thai Airways ATRs.

The ATRs are back with Thai.

[FarangFlyer]

The ATRs are back with Thai.

For now......watch this space!

[Mr Conrad]

Hi, just a quick update found this on the net today.

http://th.jobsdb.com/TH/EN/Job.asp?R=JDBT093706912&RSS=1

Looks like we will be flying in and out of Don Muang if this is correct. Not good for connecting flights, but better than no air service at all.

Best Regards

Mr Conrad

Not sure whats going on just noticed the closing date for applicants ?? (edit)

[Mosha]

I have seen they are due to get more 734s from Thai, so it looks like their spat is over.

[zzaa09]

Typical Thailand. God I hate this place.

Get me back to civilisation please.

Hmmm....civilisation?

Edited November 18, 2009 by zzaa09

[lopburi3]

One post removed - please review forum rule #31

[ralfbkk]

Unfortunately, some of these statements are simply not correct.

1.) anyone who was going to book their flights on PB can actually be happy, because both Saab's were not airworthy and have been rejected during the handover 2 weeks ago at US based Leasing Company Aero Country. Colgan Air used to be the previous owner. So, nothing wrong with this and a good decision was made.

2.) for the ATR's they had on lease, of course BKK Air wanted them back, due to the fact that they need to be in their service during the busiest time of year. ATR's on short distance flights are very high in demand, due to relatively low operating costs.

3.) The 145's needed to be returned to the Leasing Company and to renew the contract was not an option.

OK. Now many may think that this is mismanagement etc., but believe me, it is not easy get 2 - 3 planes in to service. Most of the flying equipment out there is heavy duty flying and those are being sent to the desert, need a couple of months to be reactivated. Law and Registration issues come on top of it.

Leasing a 734 is not an option for them as PB does not have the demand on the PAX side. Also, their destinations require smaller equipment.

From my point of view, I actually think that the decision of terminanting the current operation was a wise idea and most likely saved PB from a big disaster.

My 2 cents ...

Edited December 1, 2009 by ralfbkk

[FarangFlyer]

Unfortunately, some of these statements are simply not correct.

1.) anyone who was going to book their flights on PB can actually be happy, because both Saab's were not airworthy and have been rejected during the handover 2 weeks ago at US based Leasing Company Aero Country. Colgan Air used to be the previous owner. So, nothing wrong with this and a good decision was made.

2.) for the ATR's they had on lease, of course BKK Air wanted them back, due to the fact that they need to be in their service during the busiest time of year. ATR's on short distance flights are very high in demand, due to relatively low operating costs.

3.) The 145's needed to be returned to the Leasing Company and to renew the contract was not an option.

OK. Now many may think that this is mismanagement etc., but believe me, it is not easy get 2 - 3 planes in to service. Most of the flying equipment out there is heavy duty flying and those are being sent to the desert, need a couple of months to be reactivated. Law and Registration issues come on top of it.

Leasing a 734 is not an option for them as PB does not have the demand on the PAX side. Also, their destinations require smaller equipment.

From my point of view, I actually think that the decision of terminanting the current operation was a wise idea and most likely saved PB from a big disaster.

My 2 cents ...

Personally speaking, I don't think there was anything wrong with the Saab aircraft. They were never delivered, so delivery condition of the aircraft could never have been checked. Also the below title was published in Thai media today. (Hopefully the Nation will pick up on this so that we can post more details).

Singha beer baron closes operations at PB Air after 19 years

PB Air has closed its operations for good after 19 years in existence and accumulated losses of some 2 billion baht.

The full article can be viewed on the newspapers website that we are not allowed to mention on this forum.

Edited December 5, 2009 by FarangFlyer