Lower THAI Samui fares

Pandit Chanapai, THAI's executive vice president for the commercial department, said the airline was open for advance booking with fares averaging Bt300-Bt500 lower than Bangkok Airways, which has monopolised the route since the opening of Koh Samui Airport.

The national carrier will be allowed to operate the Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi)-Samui route from this coming Friday. It will provide two daily flights.

"A round-trip ticket on THAI between Bangkok and Samui will range between Bt5,600-Bt7,000, excluding Bt1,410 for fuel surcharge, airport tax and other fees. This is definitely cheaper than Bangkok Airways'," said Pandit.

A morning round-trip Bangkok Airways ticket on the Bangkok-Samui route costs Bt7,840, while THAI's is about Bt7,400. These rates include all surcharges.

THAI expects to have load factor of 75 per cent in the first six months of operation and to earn Bt300 million from the route.

Seventy five per cent of passengers will be foreigners, mainly from Europe, Japan and South Korea.

It expects to bring 14,000 overseas visitors to Samui per month.

While introducing the route, THAI is offering a special one-way rate of Bt2,450 for economy class and Bt3,600 for business class. The fares exclude airport tax, fuel surcharge and other fees. The promotion is limited to travel between February 15 and March 31.

Currently, THAI operates twice-daily flights from Bangkok to Surat Thani, the nearest airport to Samui.

Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia is operating Bangkok-Surat Thani at an average fare of Bt2,399 per flight and One Two Go at Bt2,799. Pandit added that THAI was seeking to add more flights out of Samui.

THAI president Apinan Suma-naseni said the airline would not compete with Bangkok Airways as speculated. He said it would maintain code-sharing with Bangkok Airways for the route and conduct more marketing activities to promote Samui.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation