Thai Air Fares Hike From November

[george]

Thai Airways announced price hike for domestic flights from November

BANGKOK: -- Citing rising operational costs and fuel price, Thai Airways International announced that it will increase fare prices for certain domestic routes by 200-400 baht effective 1 November 2005.

Thai Airways Vice President Wasingh Kittikul said the airline will still suffer some losses despite the hike. He noted that THAI has not adjusted the price of domestic tickets since 2001.

The routes to be affected are flights to Chiang Mai, Haat Yai and Phuket where passengers will have to pay 200 baht extra per flight. The Chiang Mai-Phuket route meanwhile will be up by 400 baht and tickets for Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son route will cost 1,000 baht instead of 765 baht. Tickets to Khon Kaen, Krabi,Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phitsanulok, Surat Thani, Trang, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani will cost 300 baht more.

Mr. Wasingh said THAI has already notified the Department of Civil Aviation concerning the fare increase and he expected no objection as with the hike will put the price at 4.19 baht per kilometre average, whereas the ceiling set by the Department is 6.82 baht per kilometre, with the exception of the Chiang Mai –Mae Hong Son route which costs 8.33 baht per kilometre and permit has been sought earlier.

--TNA 2005-10-17

[george]

Rising costs force THAI fare hikes

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International will raise the fares on its domestic services by 200 to 300 baht for most flights on Nov 1 to help reduce losses. The national carrier will also increase international fares by 3-5% next month to make up for higher costs.

But the increases, the first in domestic fares since 2001, may not be large enough to pull the national carrier out of the red, because increases are capped by the authorities.

Though the Department of Civil Aviation has yet to formally grant permission for the increase, Vasing Kittikul, THAI's executive vice-president for commercial affairs, said he didn't anticipate a problem.

He said the average fare, at about 4.19 baht per kilometre, did not exceed the ceiling set by the department at 6.82 baht.

A one-way ticket on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route will rise by 200 baht, while fares for THAI flights to Khon Kaen, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phitsanulok, Surat Thani, Trang, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani are to increase by 300 baht.

However, a one-way Chiang Mai-Phuket fare will rise by 400 baht and the fare on the feeder route linking Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son is to increase to 1,000 baht from 765 baht now, amounting to 8.33 baht/km, above the cap.

The economy return fare between Bangkok and Chiang Mai will rise to 4,740 baht from 4,340 baht. Adding extras including airport tax, the fuel surcharge and insurance fees, which total 810 baht, the total will be 5,550 baht.

While other conventional and low-cost carriers are expected to follow suit, an official of Bangkok Airways yesterday said it had no plan to increase its domestic fares.

The latest fare increase of THAI will widen the gap between fares charged by conventional airlines and no-frills carriers, which could lead passengers to go for budget airlines.

Nok Air, the low-cost carrier affiliated with THAI, charges 3,100 baht including all extra fees for a Bangkok-Chiang Mai return ticket, 56% of the national carrier's new fare.

A Nok Air executive said the airline had no immediate plans to increase the basic fare.

Meanwhile, Mr Vasing said that the fuel surcharge for domestic services would remain unchanged at 300 baht per sector, which is similar to Nok Air's, despite a continuous climb in the price of jet fuel.

--Bangkok Post 2005-10-18

[Diablo Bob]

While Thai Air is raising the domestic fares they are lowering the International fares.

I just picked up my Dubai to Chiangmai tickets yesterday and the fare R/T was only $675. This is the lowest fare I have seen on Thai Air in years......

[cclub75]

While Thai Air is raising the domestic fares they are lowering the International fares.

I just picked up my Dubai to Chiangmai tickets yesterday and the fare R/T was only $675. This is the lowest fare I have seen on Thai Air in years...... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's not true on other routes. Paris/BKK increased for instance (And i'm not speaking about "oil surcharge").

For Dubai, the competition is hard with Emirates. On Paris, direct flight, only... Air France and Thai Airways...

Anyway, it's the same old story : instead of cutting costs (too complicated sir to dangerous from a politicall point of view)... they increase the fares.

The only problem is : they forgot that we are in year 2005. Thai Airways is not alone anymore.

All the low cost carriers, are waiting behind the scene... Thai Airways will loose other customers.