Thai AirAsia Eyes Big Savings If It Can Move Back To Don Muang Airport

[webfact]

Thai AirAsia eyes big savings if it can move back to Don Mueang Airport

WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG,

WARUNEE KHLAWKHUNTOD

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Thai AirAsia believes it could save hundreds of thousands of baht a day in fuel costs, and thus achieve better financial results, if it were to move its operations from congested Suvarnabhumi Airport back to the old airport in Don Muang.

Currently being wooed by the authorities to return to Don Mueang Airport in order to reduce the congestion at Suvarnabhumi, the airline expects that negotiations with the airport operator, Airports of Thailand, will be finalised and revealed to the public later this month.

"We can return to Don Mueang Airport if this provides greater convenience to our cost management and our passengers," Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Asia Aviation, the major stakeholder in Thai AirAsia, said yesterday.

Several other airlines also want to avoid heavy traffic at Suvarnabhumi, he said. Designed to accommodate 45 million passengers a year, the country's main airport last year welcomed 46 million travellers, thanks mainly to the huge growth of low-cost airlines.

"Thai AirAsia now serves 8 million passengers a year. Returning to Don Mueang, we can somewhat reduce the congestion at Suvarnabhumi," he said.

Meanwhile, the company would see an improvement in fuel costs, as we could save hundreds of thousands [of baht] per day in no longer having to circle around Suvarnabhumi, waiting to land," the CEO said.

The company targets revenue growth this year of not less than 20-25 per cent, mainly driven by the early stages of Airbus A320 fleet expansion from 24 to 48 aircraft through to 2016.

Tassapon also clarified the selling of Asia Aviation shares, which had belonged to company executives, as a big lot on the stock market, saying that it was in line with the share allocation process notified in the company's initial-public-offering prospectus.

"We [felt we] might give a little too much of importance to retail investors. So, the investors were shocked when the shares were sold in a big lot," he said, adding, "We insist that the shares were sold at the same price as, or not lower than, the IPO price. Also, proceeds from selling the big lot of shares were used to repay existing debts at the Credit Suisse Bank in Singapore."

Moreover, he insisted that the group of Thai executives would remain major shareholders of Asia Aviation, up to a maximum of 60 per cent of the company's paid-up capital.

They are also prohibited from selling shares on the market for a period of six months.

-- The Nation 2012-06-12

[theblether]

I-ve flown with AirAsia about 40 times without problem, if they move to Don Mueng they lose my business. There's no way I will be flying in from Swampy then traveling across to DM to get a domestic flight.

Too much aggravation. No thanks.

[Ricardo]

greater convenience to our cost management

Trans : "Show us the money, or else no move" !

[OzMick]

We southern residents have the choice of AA to KUL and then onward. To put it mildly, who needs BKK?

[spacemand]

I-ve flown with AirAsia about 40 times without problem, if they move to Don Mueng they lose my business. There's no way I will be flying in from Swampy then traveling across to DM to get a domestic flight.

Too much aggravation. No thanks.

Same for me I fly 4-5 times a year outside Thailand and 90% of the time use AirAsia because they fit best with arrivaly/depature in Swampy. With Thai I have to wait 2-3 hours more in Swampy but rather that than going cross town.

Thai is only a few hundred baht more than Air Asia when you calculate all the fees so no big deal.

[theblether]

It's a strange anomaly that a country the size of Thailand only has one true international airport.

They need to promote Phuket far more and divert vast numbers from having to transit into Swampy. I know that Emirates are looking to open a route direct to Phuket and expect to announce soon.

The Middle Eastern carriers in particular would have no problem filling daily flights into Phuket, with a bit of thought direct flights into CM and Hat Yai should be on the cards too. The strategy should be to spread the load away from BKK airspace as much as possible.

Offer the hub carriers free or vastly reduced landing fees at the secondary airports for a year and see if they can build viable routes.

Just sayin'

[theblether]

I-ve flown with AirAsia about 40 times without problem, if they move to Don Mueng they lose my business. There's no way I will be flying in from Swampy then traveling across to DM to get a domestic flight.

Too much aggravation. No thanks.

Same for me I fly 4-5 times a year outside Thailand and 90% of the time use AirAsia because they fit best with arrivaly/depature in Swampy. With Thai I have to wait 2-3 hours more in Swampy but rather that than going cross town.

Thai is only a few hundred baht more than Air Asia when you calculate all the fees so no big deal.

Correct, and not having to face dragging your case down to the taxi rank, getting a surly Somchai, then sweating about getting across the traffic to catch your connecting flight.

Really, no thanks. Thai Airways will sweep up, maybe that's the plan!!

[LuckyLew]

It's a strange anomaly that a country the size of Thailand only has one true international airport.

They need to promote Phuket far more and divert vast numbers from having to transit into Swampy. I know that Emirates are looking to open a route direct to Phuket and expect to announce soon.

The Middle Eastern carriers in particular would have no problem filling daily flights into Phuket, with a bit of thought direct flights into CM and Hat Yai should be on the cards too. The strategy should be to spread the load away from BKK airspace as much as possible.

Offer the hub carriers free or vastly reduced landing fees at the secondary airports for a year and see if they can build viable routes.

Just sayin'

You are right about Phuket

They announced back in April a 4 bln Baht upgrade for Phuket airport

[WilliaminBKK]

I for one would welcome the move, keep Swampy as a spoke and hub airport and DM as point to point for LCC, more carriers should move there that only offer BKK as a destination, Cebu Pacific, Scoot, AA et al, as for building HKT as an international destination that is fine in theory however leisure travellers put bums in seats but there is more to an airline making a success in a destination, premium biz travellers and cargo, I don't know if HKT can survive the test of time on that front.

Stansted, Luton even Gatwick seem to do alright with LCC's operating from them and the public have accepted this as the carrier is able to offer much lower fares, decent schedules and greater access to new destinations.

[geriatrickid]

The sooner the better. Air Asia clogs up the airport. BKK is better put to use by the full service airlines that need the baggage facilities, and that would benefit from efficient landing and departure slots. I do not deny that the LCC meet a need and provide a valuable service to some travelers. However, it is more important if the big planes are not subjected to the congestion caused by carriers like Air Asia. PG and TG can take care of the pax in transit. The cost savings offered by a Air Asia to pax transiting has never been there once all the additional fees and hidden costs were added up so a move shouldn't cause airfares to jump.

[OzMick]

The sooner the better. Air Asia clogs up the airport. BKK is better put to use by the full service airlines that need the baggage facilities, and that would benefit from efficient landing and departure slots. I do not deny that the LCC meet a need and provide a valuable service to some travelers. However, it is more important if the big planes are not subjected to the congestion caused by carriers like Air Asia. PG and TG can take care of the pax in transit. The cost savings offered by a Air Asia to pax transiting has never been there once all the additional fees and hidden costs were added up so a move shouldn't cause airfares to jump.

By all means get those low cost peasants out of the way, so that the IMPORTANT people are not inconvenienced.

Your casual dismissal of AA flies in the face of the economic facts - it is succeeding like few other businesses in the region. Fares are significantly lower even with the costs beyond their control, and for those wishing to make bookings well in advance, the difference can be spectacular.

In my own case, I used promo sales to book Gold Coast - KUL - Surat - KUL - Gold Coast for around B10,000. If I had not chosen to have the best seats on all 4 flights, that could have very close to B7000.

As an alternative, I could have flown to BKK with Bangkok Air, only B9000 return. Then flown Thai to Bribane return for only another B40,000.

[KhunVee]

It's a strange anomaly that a country the size of Thailand only has one true international airport.

They need to promote Phuket far more and divert vast numbers from having to transit into Swampy. I know that Emirates are looking to open a route direct to Phuket and expect to announce soon.

The Middle Eastern carriers in particular would have no problem filling daily flights into Phuket, with a bit of thought direct flights into CM and Hat Yai should be on the cards too. The strategy should be to spread the load away from BKK airspace as much as possible.

Offer the hub carriers free or vastly reduced landing fees at the secondary airports for a year and see if they can build viable routes.

Just sayin'

Absolutely true.

Look at Europe, e.g.: there you have 4 Intl. Airports within a circle of a few hundred Km. Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, London and Frankfurt.

Why they not spread (more of) the Intl. load in Thailand over BKK, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya and Hat Yai is beyond me.

I'm sure a few direct Intl. Flights into all of these Airports would be easy to fill up (read: feasible and profitable for the airliners).

I'd like to see some statistics of Intl. arrivals at BKK that have absolutely no stay/business in BKK.

Many tourists/business people,.... nowadays don't stay in BKK or are willing to visit, but connect directly to another location within Thailand.

Edited June 12, 2012 by KhunVee

[theblether]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

[ratcatcher]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

You make too much sense blether!

TIT.

[planr]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

The best analogous case that I can think of is Paris. France and Thailand have roughly the same number of people (65-70 million) and the metropolitan areas of Paris and Bangkok have 10-12 million people each. In both cases the cities (and metro areas) represent comparable portions of national population, GDP, etc. In Paris you have the main international airport with Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, which handles a little more than 60 million pax in 2011 and Orly, which is domestic, LCC, etc clocking in around 27 million.

The current expansion of Suvarnibhumi which should be done in 4-5 years will bring capacity up to the level of CDG and capacity at Don Muang already exceeds the demand at Orly. Thus if the Thai government pursues a logical course of action, it can incrementally expand Suvarnibhumi and incrementally upgrade Don Muang to serve something like 100 million passengers a year by 2020 quite easily with BKK having 60 million and DMK having 40 million. If the full expansion plans for Swampy are undertaken, it's capacity alone would be 100 million by 2024... imagine the immigration queue!

And for KhunVee - In 2010, which is the last year that AOT has made complete statistics publicly available, there were 32,942,049 international passengers going through Suvarnibhumi, with 1,531,074 being transit passengers who were just passing through. So to answer your question, a little less than 5% of passengers at Suvarnibhumi are transit-only.

[pomchop]

To me it's a great move since i would never be trying to connect to an air asia flight from an international flight...DM would be less overall hassle of crowds and security and all that comes with BKK....

For all the moaning and groaning air asia offers a very good service at dirt cheap prices if you take the time to not get sucked into fees because you don't read the fine print....think of it as transportation from point a to point b and nothing more and nothing less...if you want more than that then pay a premium and fly thai or pay less and ride a bus...up to you.

[Sam Drucker]

I believe one of the issues Phuket faces with regard to expansion and more long-haul flights is that the runway is short for heavy aircraft carrying a lot of fuel. Thus, I've heard of several carriers flying long-haul into Phuket, then on return loading lightly on fuel and making a stop in BKK for additional passengers and fuel. It's a way around the problem, but not the most desirable nor cost-efficient way to operate. And it too contributes to the crowding problems at BKK,

[chuang]

[by all means get those low cost peasants out of the way, so that the IMPORTANT people are not inconvenienced.

.

What a LOUD statement..... ..you must be the IMPORTANT people.....just tell us HOW important are you...

[h90]

I-ve flown with AirAsia about 40 times without problem, if they move to Don Mueng they lose my business. There's no way I will be flying in from Swampy then traveling across to DM to get a domestic flight.

Too much aggravation. No thanks.

but they get my business....

[carra]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

Not wishing to make this political but we have seen what happens when swampy is closed and with no option of transferring flight to don meaung as that is also closed.

[h90]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

A second international airport???

Phuket is an international airport

Krabi is an international airport

Chang Mai I think

Hat Yai I am not sure....

U-Tapao and Don Muang can be used in an emergency

[carra]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

A second international airport???

Phuket is an international airport

Krabi is an international airport

Chang Mai I think

Hat Yai I am not sure....

U-Tapao and Don Muang can be used in an emergency

he clearly states a 'genuine' second international airport, one where people can fly to from worldwide without having to transit through swampy.

one problem here though is a crap infrastructure, talking about closures only at the moment I would not fancy flying to phuket when i need to be in Bangkok and faced with an over 10 hour bus journey.

[OzMick]

[by all means get those low cost peasants out of the way, so that the IMPORTANT people are not inconvenienced.

.

What a LOUD statement..... ..you must be the IMPORTANT people.....just tell us HOW important are you...

If you reread the post, and possibly improve your comprehension skills, you will realise that I am one of the cheap-Charlie Asia Air customers.

[el jefe]

Whatever happens, they must address this second airport issue, DM is only a plaster on a wound.

A country the size of Thailand must develop a genuine second international airport.

I dread to think what would have happened last year if Swampy had succumbed to the floods for even a few days. It's a strategic weakness, a serious strategic weakness.

The best analogous case that I can think of is Paris. France and Thailand have roughly the same number of people (65-70 million) and the metropolitan areas of Paris and Bangkok have 10-12 million people each. In both cases the cities (and metro areas) represent comparable portions of national population, GDP, etc. In Paris you have the main international airport with Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, which handles a little more than 60 million pax in 2011 and Orly, which is domestic, LCC, etc clocking in around 27 million.

The current expansion of Suvarnibhumi which should be done in 4-5 years will bring capacity up to the level of CDG and capacity at Don Muang already exceeds the demand at Orly. Thus if the Thai government pursues a logical course of action, it can incrementally expand Suvarnibhumi and incrementally upgrade Don Muang to serve something like 100 million passengers a year by 2020 quite easily with BKK having 60 million and DMK having 40 million. If the full expansion plans for Swampy are undertaken, it's capacity alone would be 100 million by 2024... imagine the immigration queue!

And for KhunVee - In 2010, which is the last year that AOT has made complete statistics publicly available, there were 32,942,049 international passengers going through Suvarnibhumi, with 1,531,074 being transit passengers who were just passing through. So to answer your question, a little less than 5% of passengers at Suvarnibhumi are transit-only.

That 5% statistic understates the transit only passengers since anyone connecting to/from Air Asia goes thru regular immigration at BKK and is not counted as in-transit. Same applies with other international airlines that do not have inter-line agreements with domestic carriers.

As for the comments about increasing international flights at CNX, there are already approx 100 intl flights a week. The problem at CNX is similar to that at Phuket. The runway isn't long enough for a fully-loaded fully-fueled jumbo jet. That's why there is serious consideration being given to build a new airport outside CM.

[ratcatcher]

[by all means get those low cost peasants out of the way, so that the IMPORTANT people are not inconvenienced.

.

What a LOUD statement..... ..you must be the IMPORTANT people.....just tell us HOW important are you...

You obviously don't appreciate irony, I do, but my wife does it all.

Try this for fun:[media=]

[/media]

[ginjag]

OzMick, KEENYOW, Ha Ha I am also, problem my ready booked flight Udon-Swampy..Sept. I chose it because 1st flight out Udon-Swampy-bus-Jomptien. can do the trip in one day by getting the last flight back to Udon. NOW arriving at D.M. and getting to Jomptien, turn around and return the same---no way can I make it. So I will not use the flight--(cannot) in the car I go 8 hours 630 kilometre. same back. I just wonder how much A.Asia will save ??? how much they will lose by not connecting to International. All those people that arrive at Swampy that take air asia to many cities, will NOT be doing that now.

[planr]

That 5% statistic understates the transit only passengers since anyone connecting to/from Air Asia goes thru regular immigration at BKK and is not counted as in-transit. Same applies with other international airlines that do not have inter-line agreements with domestic carriers.

As for the comments about increasing international flights at CNX, there are already approx 100 intl flights a week. The problem at CNX is similar to that at Phuket. The runway isn't long enough for a fully-loaded fully-fueled jumbo jet. That's why there is serious consideration being given to build a new airport outside CM.

You'll get no argument from me on the statistic I presented, but someone asked for real numbers, and that's as good as it gets as far as anyone in the Thai aviation sector is concerned. That said, the total demand (2010) at HKT was 7 million, 3.2 million at CNX and 1.5 million in Hat Yai. The idea mentioned that these airports should be developed similar to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, etc is a bit silly. The only airport in Thailand that really has a solid international market (besides BKK) is HKT. How many Russians fancy a visit to the north? I think HKT and CNX rightly deserve to be expanded to cater to rising demand, but the idea that either should be built out to accommodate 30-40 million people a year is plain nuts.

Edited June 12, 2012 by planr

[ripstanley]

So they will have set up an international terminal at DM. Where will the Immigration and Customs staff come from. They will have to reduce the number at Swampy to set up DM as an international. This may in the short term cause more hold ups at Swampy

[ratcatcher]

So they will have set up an international terminal at DM. Where will the Immigration and Customs staff come from. They will have to reduce the number at Swampy to set up DM as an international. This may in the short term cause more hold ups at Swampy

Did they demolish the International (No.1) Terminal at Don Muang?

Edited June 12, 2012 by ratcatcher

[ripstanley]

So they will have set up an international terminal at DM. Where will the Immigration and Customs staff come from. They will have to reduce the number at Swampy to set up DM as an international. This may in the short term cause more hold ups at Swampy

Did they demolish the International (No.1) Terminal at Don Muang?

I was mainly refering to the staff as there are no immigration or customs there now.