Phuket to be Thai Hub for AirAsia
AirAsia, the cheap flights carrier for Southeast Asia, is to make use of Phuket to open up new routes and expand operations.
The airline plans to expand its operations using Medan in North Sumatra in Indonesia, Penang in Malaysia, and Bandung in West Java. It will begin by introducing flights to cities in China and Hong Kong.
Kathleen Tan who is the regional head of commercial flights for AirAsia said: “Having a hub in Phuket means you can operate more new routes using Phuket as a base, and bring in more traffic from overseas."
Ms Tan added that AirAsia’s sister airline, Thai AirAsia, would be employing extra ground staff and engineers and would be expected to keep one aircraft on standby at the start of the new operations.
Phuket is known to be a busy port of activity and has much untapped potential for AirAsia’s targeted budget-conscious customers. Last year saw much political upheaval in Thailand with the seizure of its two airports. This resulted in a slowing down in flights through Phuket International Airport.
Internationally though there was a growth of 10 per cent, rising to 2.4 million showing the popularity of Thailand as a holiday resort worldwide. This growth is in contrast to the reduction in domestic numbers which reduced to 3.32 million, by 5.48 per cent, according to figures released from Airports of Thailand Plc.
The original main hubs were Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bankgok. These will now be joined by a series of secondary hubs set up by the AirAsia group to bring fresh life to its network stretching across ten Asian countries.
Travel Industry news posted by Marilyn on 25 March 2009
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