Asia News Desk » Orient Thai Airlines

Orient Thai plans US$2.5b Boeing order

Prahok — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:36:58 +0000

Reuters reports that Orient Thai Airlines plans to order 20 new aircraft, eight Boeing 787-9s and 12 Boeing 737-900s, at a cost of US$2.5b in April 2008, chairman Udom Tantiprasongchai said Wednesday. Delivery of the first plane was expected in 2011 and the new aircraft would replace ageing ones and expand its fleet to 30-35 from 18 now, Udom said. “The new aircraft will help expand our fleet and replace existing ones. We have 18 planes and some of them are due to be decommissioned,” he said.

Orient Thai to fly to Nepal from December 18

Prahok — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:28:19 +0000

Kantipur reports that Orient Thai Airlines is beginning thrice-weekly flights between Bangkok and Kathmandu from December 18. “The flights will be operated with 170-seater MD-82 aircraft,” said Ajay Simha of Orient Asia International, the general sales agent of the airline … Continue reading →

Don Muang to reopen this weekend

Prahok — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:09:09 +0000

The Bangkok Post reports that Don Muang will be officially reopening this weekend. Initially both Nok Air and Orient Thai Airlines will be using it for all their flights while THAI will be using it for their non-connecting domestic flights only. On all new ticketing the code for Don Muang will be changed from BKK to DMK.

According to the Thai Airways site, flight operations at Don Muang Airport will be numbered 4 digits starting with 1 (TG 1xxx) such as TG 1203 and those operated at Suvarnabhumi Airport will be numbered 3 digits. They also have some timetable information here.

Boom time in Krabi

Prahok — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 11:01:25 +0000

Andaman News reports that the TAT is optimistic of a class high season in Krabi, Thailand this year, with budget airline One-Two-Go starting daily direct flights from Bangkok to Krabi. Currently THAI and Air Asia are flying to Krabi, while Tiger provides direct flights from Singapore several times per week, increasing after 29 October. Meanwhile for this upcoming high season, Finn Air from Helsinki and Nova Airlines from Stockholm will bring in 2 flights per week direct to Krabi, while Russiaâ€™s Aeroflot is seeking permission to fly direct from Moscow to Krabi.

One-Two-Go to take on AirAsia

Prahok — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 23:30:42 +0000

The Bangkok Post reports that One-Two-Go has vowed to take on AirAsia with an aggressive regional expansion. Plans include One-Two-Go flying from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Rangoon, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Indonesia in the next one or two years.

Low cost airlines face problems at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Prahok — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 22:17:54 +0000

Thaisnews reports that low-cost airlines operators have indicated they are facing a different airport check-in system at Suvarnabhumi Airport which could cost them B700m more to adjust to and fear passengers will have to bear the brunt of the cost. The pres of One-Two-Go and Orient Thai Airlines Company Plc, Udom Tantiprasongchai, disclosed that the existing system the low-cost airlines use is partially manual, and it will need to be converted in order to match two other components of the check-in system. He added that in order to change to the new system, the low-cost airlines will need to increase its check-in fee from 60 to 100B per passenger.

Clear skies ahead for the Thai LCC market

Prahok — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 02:40:33 +0000

Thai Day has a good round-up of the Thai LCC market at the moment, with the surprising fact that Nok Air is the best performing of the Thai LCCs. Always our personal favourite, it seems it isn’t just us that … Continue reading →

Skies not very open for Nok Air’s rivals

Prahok — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:08:04 +0000

The Bangkok Post has an interesting piece Friday on Thailand’s “open-sky policy”, which at least on the domestic horizon, does not seem to be as open as authorities claim. Both PB Air and One-Two-Go by Orient Thai are complaining that Nok Air (which is 39% owned by government-controlled THAI) is receiving preferential treatment as THAI ditches its loss-making domestic routes. Nok Air is effectively subsidised by THAI, leasing its aircraft from THAI at book value + 1%, while its domestic rivals have to lease at market rates. It also receives subsidised maintenance fees competitors have alleged — hardly a level playing field. The fares reflect to an extent this disparity in costs, with PB Air charging 3,180B for a flight to Nakhon Si Thammarat, while Nok Air can fly the same route for as little as 1,250B — who would you fly?