Thai AirAsia launches Bengaluru-Bangkok direct flight

Thai AirAsia launched a direct flight from Bengaluru to Bangkok with a promotional fare of Rs.3,999, an airline official said on Monday.

"We are pleased to launch an exciting new route with direct flights from Bengaluru to Bangkok from September 1, 2015 onwards. Our five flights per week will significantly contribute to Air Asia's connectivity in India," said Tassapon Bijleveld, the CEO of Thai AirAsia, at a press conference here.

Flight FD 138 will fly five days a week from Bengaluru to Bangkok except on Wednesdays and Saturdays while flight FD 137 will return from Bangkok to Bengaluru on the same days.

"We are more confident in doing business in India, the infrastructure has been improving a lot. A lot of towns are moving to new airports which are better organised, ground handling is up to the standards and a lot more people are willing to travel," said Bijleveld.

The CEO said AirAsia doesn't look at passenger traffic to launch flights but creates new markets wherever it goes.

"We don't actually look at passenger traffic. Everywhere, we go we create a new market, whoever is flying, as long as they are not low cost career, we are not competing with them. Our target is very clear, within six months, we have to hit 78 to 80 percent load factor," added Bijleveld.

"The airline chose Bengaluru because it alone contributed close to 1,50,000 of the 9,50,000 travellers to Thailand from India in 2014," added Bijleveld.

"Thai AirAsia has teamed up with the Indian tourism ministry, MakeMytrip, and many other parties to develop business and also plans to offer group incentives to multinational companies," Bijleveld said highlighting that they have learnt from their past mistakes.

"We will make the best use of our entire airline network to for easier operations and save costs. Also, we will ensure to offer the lowest fares in the market. For the moment, we do not have codesharing agreements with other airlines, only within AirAsia," said Bijleveld.

AirAsia is currently achieving aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes in India.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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