HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

LCC battle starts

Bangkok airport ‘losing out’

Ray of hope for suffering Chiang Mai

IFA Hotels & Resorts announces opening of first YOTEL

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LCC battle starts

Mark Bode (TTG)
Thailand’s One-Two-Go Airlines has decided to take the fight to AirAsia by seeking out new routes that will place it in direct competition with its low-cost rival - including a push into the Malaysia-based carrier’s own backyard.
One-Two-Go’s move to launch its first overseas services, which will include Bangkok-Macau and Bangkok- Kuala Lumpur, is part of an accelerated expansion strategy that also encompasses sister carrier, Orient Thai Airlines.
The no-frills carrier is upset over what it considers the preferential treatment AirAsia - which has a 49 per cent stake in Thai AirAsia - has received from Thai authorities.
The stage has now been set for a tussle between One-Two-Go and AirAsia, with the Thai carrier - emboldened by its ability to survive in the face of stiff competition - confident it is now ready to compete with South-east Asia’s largest low-cost carrier in overseas markets.
One-Two-Go is due to start daily Bangkok-Macau flights next month and a daily Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur service in September, followed by a daily Bangkok-Phnom Penh service in October.
The airline is also eyeing a Phuket-Kuala Lumpur service in the near future, as well as flights to Siem Reap, Singapore, Bali and Bangladesh.
In keeping with its expansion plans, One-Two-Go has increased its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets to eight and has signed a deal to acquire 14 MD-80 jets from Japan Airlines, which will bring its total fleet size to 22 by next year.
Orient Thai, a conventional airline with a low-cost pricing policy, is due to launch daily Bangkok-Guangzhou and Bangkok-Chengdu flights in August and September respectively. The Bangkok-Guangzhou service is being resumed after it was suspended some years back.
The carrier also plans to introduce a thrice-weekly Bangkok-Kathmandu service next month.

Bangkok airport ‘losing out’

Higher fees and the uncertainly over the expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport are deterring international airlines from adding flights into Thailand.
They are instead shifting new capacity into China, India and Vietnam.
Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) president, Brian Sinclair-Thompson, said none of the BAR member airlines are preparing for substantial capacity increases to and from Thailand in the near future.
He said the 35 per cent higher landing fees that Airports of Thailand imposed in the last 20 months, coupled with many fees imposed on every airline passenger for using facilities such as the check-in, airport lounges, etc, were reasons preventing air capacity growth for Thailand.
On the other hand, any airline considering introducing new flights to Kuala Lumpur, for example, were being offered an incentive of up to five years, he added.
Another reason for airlines shifting their capacity increases to China, India and Vietnam was the congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Mr. Sinclair-Thompson said airlines desperately needed an expanded airport, including a mid-term terminal and a third runway, and to boost capacity up to 60 million passengers per year from 45 million now.
He cited the example of Swiss Air, in his capacity as its general manager in Thailand, which had scrapped plans to increase the Bangkok-Zurich service to 10 or 12 times per week, from six weekly flights now. “Instead, we are planning to introduce new flights to New Delhi and Shanghai,” he said. (TTG)

Ray of hope for suffering Chiang Mai

Sirima Eamtako (TTG)
Beleaguered Chiang Mai hoteliers, facing a 10-year low, are encouraged by Thai tourism minister Dr. Suvit Yodmani’s promise to speed up building Chiang Mai Convention Center to help make the city a year-round leisure and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) destination.
At a meeting with the tourism public and private sectors in Chiang Mai last week, Dr Yodmani said he would push for the centre to be approved by the Cabinet by the end of this year and for completion within two years.
Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai general manager, Philip Dailey, said: “Following the opening of the convention centre - expected by the end of 2009 - the average length of stay will likely be extended to five days, from around two to three days now. Supply and demand will then kick in and help drive higher average room rates for Chiang Mai hotels.”
Holiday Inn Chiang Mai general manager, Alan Watts, said his hotel and Shangri-La, the only two properties with function rooms totalling almost 6,000sqm, would actively start marketing Chiang Mai as a MICE destination.
Dailey said: “With our international marketing activities, if (the MICE planners) do not choose Chiang Mai next year, they might do so in 2009.
“From 2010 onwards, I believe Chiang Mai’s potential as a MICE destination can be fully realised.”
Dr Yodmani also plans to relaunch the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek site early next month as a botanical garden. He has agreed to introduce two annual festivals next year, a Walking Street Festival in May and an International Food Festival in September.
The Chedi Chiang Mai general manager, Eleanor Hardy, indicated all this would help increase arrivals. “We are moving in the right direction to promote awareness of Chiang Mai as more than just a gateway to the north of Thailand,” she said.
The floral expo drew 2.6 million local and international tourists between November 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007, but the city experienced a sharp drop immediately in February.
Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association president, Songvit Ittipattanakul, said May was the worst month with the number of tourists falling 30 to 40 per cent to a 10-year low.
Thai Hotels Association Northern Upper Chapter president and The Empress Hotel Chiang Mai general manager, Kanog Suvannavisutr, said his hotel enjoyed good bookings from medium-size local and international MICE groups, which prompted the owner to invest 350 million baht (US$11 million) on a purpose-built convention centre.
Scheduled to open in February 2008, the three-storey Empress Convention Center will have two ballrooms for 1,200 people and five breakout rooms. Already, it has bookings from five groups of up to 300 delegates each.