Gaybutton Posted July 26, 2008 Posted July 26, 2008 http://phuketwan.com/article/tourism/nok-a...ghts-sack-staff _____ Nok Air Drops Phuket-Bangkok Flights, Sacks Staff By Chutima Sidasathian Friday July 25, 2008 NOK AIR is cutting its daily flights between Bangkok and Phuket from the end of July, along with services to three other destinations. About 20 Nok Air staff at the airport on Phuket are also going to lose their jobs as the aviation industry crisis, fueled by rising oil costs, impacts on Thai travel nationwide. Inevitably, the cutbacks will affect tourism on Phuket and before long, investment on the island in property and resort construction. Nok Air, the budget arm of Thai Airways, is also cutting flights from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, Ubon Ratchatanee and Krabi. It will retain services from Bangkok to Udon Thani, Chiang Mai and Had Yai. A Nok Air spokeswoman blamed the cuts on oil prices and the general economic downturn. Nok Air has been flying the route since February 10, 2006. The disappearance of the Nok Air flights leaves only Air Asia and Thai Airways operating on the Bangkok-Phuket route. Thai Airways maintains about 10 flights on the route a day, with Air Asia having six flights. Another budget airline that serviced Bangkok-Phuket, One-Two-Go, has just been suspended from flying by the Department of Civil Aviaition for 30 days, perhaps longer. The dramatic reduction in cheap air flights is likely to put many local travellers back on buses, force some international visitors to stay in Bangkok, and drive many to seek alternative holiday destinations to Phuket. The Nok Air cancellations add to the tale of woe for tourism as the airline industry worldwide undergoes a shattering transformation. While travelers with bookings will not be dissuaded from coming over the next few months, numbers are likely to fall away soon as the international downturn spreads. Australians, for example, are largely unaffected and still able to travel, although rising costs will affect them, too. In Europe, though, the knock-on effects of the banking and lending crisis in the US are already rumbling through the economies of many countries. Holidays, especially on long-haul flights with the cost of seats rising, are something fewer people can afford. The only real positive from the crisis is that it may reduce airline flights sufficiently to relieve the pressure on Phuket airport as it undergoes a major expansion to cope with increasing numbers of tourists. If and when those increasing numbers of tourists will begin arriving is now the question that nobody can answer. Quote
Gaybutton Posted August 7, 2008 Author Posted August 7, 2008 Nok Air will resume limited service to Phuket beginning Saturday, August 9. The following appears in the Phuket Gazette ( see http://www.phuketgazette.net/dailynews/index.asp?id=6692 ): _____ Nok Air Resumes Phuket Service PHUKET CITY: Nok Air is resuming twice-weekly flights to Phuket from Bangkok following media reports of Phuket-bound tourists stranded in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The Phuket Gazette's report as well as other media reports were used by the board in their decision making, Nok Air media and public relations representative Dechavut Vuttisilp told the Gazette. The limited service, which resumes on August 9, is scheduled to operate on Saturdays and Sundays only. Flights depart from Don Muang airport in Bangkok to Phuket International Airport (PIA) at 9.15 am, with the return leg taking off from PIA at 11.05 am. However, the Sunday flight for this week will be moved to Tuesday, August 12 to accommodate those wishing to enjoy Mother's Day in Phuket. For the rest of August the flights will be on Saturdays and Sundays. Many Phuket-bound tourists who already faced limited flight options following the suspension of One-Two-Go's services on July 22 were stranded in Bangkok when Nok Air suspended its Bangkok-Phuket service on August 1. The move followed Nok Air's halt of its Krabi-Bangkok service on July 1. At that time, Nok Air issued no official statement regarding its marketing strategies, but a source at the budget airline told the Gazette that people would be able to figure it out if they looked carefully at what the airline was doing. Nok Air also suspended its loss-ridden Phuket-Haad Yai service November last year after a six-month trial period found there were not enough passengers to continue it. It now remains impossible to fly between the South's two major airports, which for decades had regularly-scheduled services. Angry Finnish tourist Arto Tiitinen called from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on August 2 to inform the Gazette that many other irate Phuket-bound tourists were awaiting standby flights. "I'm surprised that there are not extra flights; now my family must holiday elsewhere. I have no problem with money, it's just that there aren't any tickets to Phuket available for now at any price," he said, adding that he would instead take his family to Chiang Mai for a holiday. The Gazette checked the AirAsia website that day, which showed that the airline's seven daily flights to Phuket from Suvarnabhumi were fully booked until Tuesday, August 5. Thai Airways continues to fly two or three flights daily to Phuket from Don Muang and six flights a day from Suvarnabhumi. Nok Air, which used Don Mueang International Airport as its main base, started operations in July 2004. Owned 39% by Thai Airways International, the low-cost carrier was set up to compete with the aggressive expansion of rival low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia. As it celebrates its 4th anniversary, the carrier has also relaunched its "Nok Gives Life" project. With "Nok Gives Life" the airline works to raise funds for the Cardiac Children Foundation of Thailand, established Under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana. Funds raised enable life-saving surgery and treatment for young heart patients. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted August 8, 2008 Posted August 8, 2008 Along with One-Two-Go's suspension, this must be causing a lot of difficulty for Phuket's hotels and tourist businesses in general. not just Nok passengers. I wonder if Nok's decision is due in part to flights leaving from Don Mueang rather than Suvarnabhumi? I have taken lots of Nok flights and find Don Mueang such a breeze for domestic flights. One-Two-Go's on-going viability after the suspension must surely now be in question. Everytime I go to Suvarnabhumi for a morning flight, I see their 4 or 5 ancient gas guzzling Boeing 747 200's and 300's sitting doing nothing on the tarmac. So if One-Two-Go happens to go bust, I suppose Nok might re-open the Phuket route. Quote
