Kan Air Chiang Mai to Pattaya service - CANCELLED

[ChiangmaiRob]

seven hour taxi from where to where?

1.5 hours to U-Tapao

1.5 hours back to Pattaya

4 hours to Suvarnabhumi etc.

Even on a busy day it's only 1.5 hours to Swampy and no way it's 1.5 to U-Tapao .... if you really had those travel times, there must have been road works or an accident!

[Asiantravel]

I don't think I would fly in a 6 seater.......ddon't care who the carrier is :-)

If the flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems, you're lucky............

If they are flying the Cessna grand Caravan (as opposed to the 74 seat ATR) on this route it actually has 10 seats not 6 and you are safer in one of these than in the standard public minivan services around Thailand......... even during an engine failure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk33A-yXa34

Edited April 29, 2015 by Asiantravel

[CNXBKKMAN]

I don't think I would fly in a 6 seater.......ddon't care who the carrier is :-)

If the flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems, you're lucky............

Its a USD5,000,000 aircraft. Very smart. Its even got a toilet. Quite an upgrade for me I normally cycle everywhere.

http://www.privatefly.com/private-jets/small-jet-hire/Beech-390-Premier-1.html

[NanLaew]

The OP started a parallel complaint thread the same day in the Pattaya forum. After 13 posts where most respondents were critical of HIS subsequent travel decisions, he has left that building.

It appears he has had a greater audience here in the Chiang Mai forum although for the most part, they are also appear critical of HIS poor choices.

His basic complaint that they did not attempt to advise of the cancellation is valid except when you consider that the engine problem cited may have come up in pre-flight checks, ie. within an hour of the flight. I don't think that even the big carriers will call +100 passengers in that event since most, like the OP, would either be on the way to the airport or possibly checking/checked in already. But the OP has taken it beyond that simple omission and persists in justifying his poor alternate travel choices after he declined Kan Air's viable solution.

Kan Air fly most of these routes on a one flight each way per day basis and not always on consecutive days. They also charge really low loss-leader fares to get the passenger volume up. If a passenger values his time over money, I would recommend they fly via either Bangkok airports where faster alternatives are available. If one isn't in a hurry and want to save some money (and time at the Pattaya end), then Kan Air are imminently viable.

I am sorry for the OP's simply overwhelming bad luck on that day but seasonal flash flooding and the ongoing Highway 7 upgrades are not total unknowns and incidentally, have nothing to do with Kan Air either.

[jacko45k]

yes it's possible (but TIT)... anyway why no sms? phone call? or email? I could have diverted my taxi at any stage had I been told and, of course, I was lucky my driver agreed to take me to Suvarnupom

Do you know when they made the decision to cancel the flight?

Besides which they offered you a same day alternative which doesn't sound so bad to me. I've had worse from bigger airlines.

oh goodie... a poster defending the incompetence of Kan Air not sending an SMS, email or phone call - hope it happens to YOU soon

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

[Don Mega]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

Can they send an sms from their desk phone, or do you expect them to send 250sms's from their personal mobile phones ?

[NanLaew]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

It may be lost on some infrequent fliers that despite any unfortunate delays to any aircraft's departure, the original check-in time slots, airline ground staffing and carrier-specific security details are not delayed, especially for foreign carriers.

[CNXBKKMAN]

The best thing for the op to have done was go with the flow. Use the Kan Air minibus to DMK. Let Kan Air book him on a flight from DMK. When he stepped off the minibus at DMK Kan Air staff would hand him his flight details to CNX on Air Asia or whatever. All bumps smoothed out as much as possible.

No the op thought he would do it all himself and then post a topic about how his flight from Chiang Mai to U-Tapao was cancelled when in fact he was was flying U-Tapao to Chiang Mai...

[Chicog]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

Can they send an sms from their desk phone, or do you expect them to send 250sms's from their personal mobile phones ?

Actually in this day and age, if you purchase a ticket online they have your phone number and your email.

It isn't too difficult to do a bulk email or SMS.

But there is little point in doing it less than an hour before takeoff.

[Mestizo]

no you 'come on' I have flown zillions and 100s flights in my career and only ever had two flights cancelled and this is one of them

and I have made it CLEAR that my problem is they did not contact me - get it now?

After "zillions" of flights, you still haven't learned to proactively check the status of your flight for delays and cancelations?!?!? Even in this day and age, where all you gotta do is type your flight number into Google to get nice graphical display of the flight status??

-Mestizo

[mango66]

seven hour taxi from where to where?

1.5 hours to U-Tapao

1.5 hours back to Pattaya

4 hours to Suvarnabhumi etc.

did you go by a riksa taxi ?

pattaya Utapao 1,5 hr, you need if you walk;

[EPICFAIL]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

Can they send an sms from their desk phone, or do you expect them to send 250sms's from their personal mobile phones ?

Have to wonder about the honesty of this post regarding notifying 250 passangers of a delay when the largest aircraft Bangkok Airways has in it's fleet is an Airbus A320 with a capacity of 162. Of course this is ThaiVisa so exaggeration and hyperbole are always in style. Of course BA could just be overbooking flights by 88 people to account for the no shows. Sure, that's it.

Edited May 1, 2015 by EPICFAIL

[rajyindee]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

Can they send an sms from their desk phone, or do you expect them to send 250sms's from their personal mobile phones ?

Have to wonder about the honesty of this post regarding notifying 250 passangers of a delay when the largest aircraft Bangkok Airways has in it's fleet is an Airbus A320 with a capacity of 162. Of course this is ThaiVisa so exaggeration and hyperbole are always in style. Of course BA could just be overbooking flights by 88 people to account for the no shows. Sure, that's it.

Dearie me! BA is British Airways, Bangkok Airways is PG. So, no need to worry about anyone's honesty, exaggeration or hyperbole.

Edited May 1, 2015 by rajyindee

[CNXBKKMAN]

I once complained to BA that they should have called to warn their passengers of an extended delay to one of their flights I was on...arriving at check-in and being told I would have to hang around for some hours. The girl was incredulous saying 'there are 250 people on the flight and you expect us to contact all of them'.... Inconveniencing a few BA staff rather than 250 passengers was obviously a silly idea!

Easy enough to SMS or even call half a dozen passengers to save them even setting out to the airport in the wrong direction.

Can they send an sms from their desk phone, or do you expect them to send 250sms's from their personal mobile phones ?

Have to wonder about the honesty of this post regarding notifying 250 passangers of a delay when the largest aircraft Bangkok Airways has in it's fleet is an Airbus A320 with a capacity of 162. Of course this is ThaiVisa so exaggeration and hyperbole are always in style. Of course BA could just be overbooking flights by 88 people to account for the no shows. Sure, that's it.

Dearie me! BA is British Airways, Bangkok Airways is PG. So, no need to worry about anyone's honesty, exaggeration or hyperbole.

Haha Epicfail great user name for that post. Was it intended to be a joke?

[Asiantravel]

I am only guessing really. The DMK to UTP flight is supposed to be daily but when i booked the website would only show it on saturday. A caravan may operate CNX to UTP but they might need to buy a second one. I know they got their second ATR about a month ago for theUTP expansion. On the other thread on the thailand travel forum "worlds cheapest bizjet flight" someone posted a screenshot of UTP arrivals and it showed the UTP DMK flight was operated by a Caravan but that caravan would have been up north somewhere? Maybe they have two? When i booked my UTP flight the bangkok staff on the phone said it was a Premier Jet so i went to purchase at Chiang Mai airport ticket desk which is close by for me and the staff there said it was an ATR flight? There is a lot of fuzzy info with Kan Air at the moment but once the UTP operations start fully it should become clearer. Thats assuming they can make the UTP flights work? Jetstar had a flight to Singapore a few years back but they pulled out after only one or two weeks of service - not enough demand.

So you were right after all! Someone else I know enquired about making a booking and they confirmed they are using the ATR 500.

I am pleasantly surprised but their marketing department will have to work very hard to keep filling up a plane of that size on every journey.

I’m still a bit perplexed about the travel time though which is why couldn’t believe they were using this aircraft? They quoted a journey time of 2 hours and yet this plane apparently cruises at 276 knots (or 317 mph) but the distance from U -Tapao to Chiang Mai is 682.13 km or 423.86 miles so maybe they fly at a lower speed than cruising?

Anyway all will be revealed in due course

Edited May 1, 2015 by Asiantravel

[Konini]

I am pleasantly surprised but their marketing department will have to work very hard to keep filling up a plane of that size on every journey.

Just musing, but this is probably a good option for anyone wanting to go to Cambodia by road. Last time we did it (several years ago) we had to go to Bangkok then get another bus up to Poipet then on to Siem Reap; ridiculous jouney but it was the only way at the time - we couldn't fly as planned because Mr K had very poorly sinuses. Although you would have to deal with the highwaymen in the visa office at Koh Khong relieving you of your hard earned cash, it may be easier if you are heading for PP or Snooky.

[Asiantravel]

I am pleasantly surprised but their marketing department will have to work very hard to keep filling up a plane of that size on every journey.

Just musing, but this is probably a good option for anyone wanting to go to Cambodia by road. Last time we did it (several years ago) we had to go to Bangkok then get another bus up to Poipet then on to Siem Reap; ridiculous jouney but it was the only way at the time - we couldn't fly as planned because Mr K had very poorly sinuses. Although you would have to deal with the highwaymen in the visa office at Koh Khong relieving you of your hard earned cash, it may be easier if you are heading for PP or Snooky.

Absolutely :-)

and perhaps even a little stop off on the enchanting Koh Chang on the way?

[CNXBKKMAN]

I am only guessing really. The DMK to UTP flight is supposed to be daily but when i booked the website would only show it on saturday. A caravan may operate CNX to UTP but they might need to buy a second one. I know they got their second ATR about a month ago for theUTP expansion. On the other thread on the thailand travel forum "worlds cheapest bizjet flight" someone posted a screenshot of UTP arrivals and it showed the UTP DMK flight was operated by a Caravan but that caravan would have been up north somewhere? Maybe they have two? When i booked my UTP flight the bangkok staff on the phone said it was a Premier Jet so i went to purchase at Chiang Mai airport ticket desk which is close by for me and the staff there said it was an ATR flight? There is a lot of fuzzy info with Kan Air at the moment but once the UTP operations start fully it should become clearer. Thats assuming they can make the UTP flights work? Jetstar had a flight to Singapore a few years back but they pulled out after only one or two weeks of service - not enough demand.

So you were right after all! Someone else I know enquired about making a booking and they confirmed they are using the ATR 500.

I am pleasantly surprised but their marketing department will have to work very hard to keep filling up a plane of that size on every journey.

Im still a bit perplexed about the travel time though which is why couldnt believe they were using this aircraft? They quoted a journey time of 2 hours and yet this plane apparently cruises at 276 knots (or 317 mph) but the distance from U -Tapao to Chiang Mai is 682.13 km or 423.86 miles so maybe they fly at a lower speed than cruising?

Anyway all will be revealed in due course

They may never fill the ATR between Don Muang and U-Tapao but any money is bonus money as the aircraft has to reposition between the two airports regardless.

If the two hour flight time between Chiang Mai turns out to be correct i am guessing that the flight will have a stop enroute. Maybe Chiang Mai - Khon Kaen - U-tapao? I flew Thai Airways Chiang Mai to Phitsanulok many years back also on an ATR 72. It took two and a half hours but operated via Nan and then on to Phrae before arriving at Phitsanulok.

[sandyf]

Sounds like bad luck although I would have insisted on being put on a flight to DMK or BKK, there are enough flights from CNX and got a bus from there.

This won't help but I had a great flight on Kan Air.

Worlds Cheapest Bizjet Flight:

hi, they offered a van to Don Muang (when Suvarnupom was much nearer)

I'm convinced lack of passengers (there were around 5) was the reason for cancelling

my BITTEREST complaint is they did not phone, SMS or email

left Pattaya 1pm arrived Chiang Mai 9pm via Suvarnapom

Just letting TVF posters know that Kan Air cannot be trusted to alert if they decide to cancel a flight

I would doubt that. They operate out of CM and aircraft are normally required to return to the hub. Very expensive to sit somewhere else.

My wife and I were the only 2 passengers on a Orient Thai flight from China back to DM. Cabin crew were falling over themselves to serve us coffee and biscuits, unfortunately it was a no alcohol flight. They brought our bags to the steps when we disembarked and we were on the expressway within 20 minutes of landing.

[grin]

Interesting - a totally mis-titled topic has gotten people including myself interested in flying this Kan Air route.

[JLT]

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I'm interested to know if it was raining when the KanAir flight was due to take off?

Not too long ago, my wife's 45 minute return flight by KanAir from Nan to CNX was pre-emptorily cancelled "because of heavy rain" on the runway in Nan. She (not knowing any better) accepted the offer of a 6 hour trip by van to CNX. She was uncomfortable at being the only woman in a van with 7 men and embarrassingly (for her), had to tell the driver to his annoyance, that she needed a "rest stop" (twice). Additionally, on more thanone occasion both she and the other passengers had to tell the driver to please drive a little slower. The journey took just over 6 hours, at the end of which she was completely exhausted. BUT KanAir did give her a compensatory one-way ticket (either to Nan from CNX or vice-versa) which had to be used within a month. Unfortunately we couldn't use it within the time period and couldn't transfer it to anyone else.

NB: Of course, the rain in Nan stopped after an hour or so and the KanAir aircraft made its way to CNX without any passengers on board. (I know this because, while waiting for my wife I strolled to the KanAir desk and asked if the aircraft I could see was the flight from Nan). When she said it was, I asked why they just didn't put the flight "on hold" at Nan and then complete the 45 minute flight to CNX when the rain stopped? She just looked at me and shrugged and went back to adjusting her hair....

Mai b'pen rai!

You have to be joking! width=20 alt=laugh.png>

I would never accept a trip in a van as a substitute because I regard their driving as kamikaze style. width=19 alt=bah.gif>

I would also like to know why they didn’t put your wife’s flight on hold? It doesn’t make sense to do that if they had to go anyway eventually and I have never heard an airline having to adjust their just because you’re a bit of rain? alt=blink.png>

Why would I be joking, I only recounted what happened!

1) Like you, I would probably not accept a trip in van as a substitute but it wasn't me (or you), it was my wife trying to get back home to Chaing Mai. Also, I don't understand how you could have missed the fact that I had already mentioned that the journey home wasn't great and that there were complaints to the driver from the passengers, that he was driving too fast.

2) Again, I said that I asked at the Kan Air desk in Chiang Mai why the flight wasn't put on hold, especially as I could see the aeroplane on the tarmac (but maybe the weather forecast in Nan was for prolonged rain and/or maybe they thought it was a safety issue??). But there was no reasonable response from the staff.

3) I've not heard of an airline cancelling a flight because of rain, BUT this was a light aircraft and my wife said the rain was of "downpour" proportions. (Equally, I've always flown on jet aircraft which (I think) handle adverse weather conditions better. But because this was something you've not heard of, please feel free to ask Kan Air on your own behalf and ask if this is "normal" practice?

Edited May 3, 2015 by JLT

[JomtienEats]

Trying to book this route today - just getting, "Please contact Kan Air Thai Travel (+66) 2 551-6117-6120".

It was bookable a week ago, and other routes seems to be bookable online, so I wonder if this route hasn't run into some significant trouble. Not looking good.

[JomtienEats]

Oh - here's some more 'info' from the website -

Due to the Depart of Civil Aviation (Thailand) has not allowed the permanent routes, which are Chiang Mai - Nakhon Ratchasima (Round Trip) and Pattaya (U-Tapao) - Hua Hin (Round Trip). Therefore, the following routes have to be stopped operating for a while. Further information please contact (+66) 2 551-6117-6120

EDIT :Actually that doesn't specifically reference the CM-Patts route.

Edited June 5, 2015 by JomtienEats