Thai AirAsia Announces Move to Don Muang

Posted on Tuesday 26 June 2012 by Michael

Both The Nation and Bangkok Post are reporting on a story I started hearing yesterday about AirAsia moving back to Don Muang airport. The subject of the reports is a press conference on Monday, 25 June 2012, where the Thai affiliate of Air Asia signed a memorandum with the Airports Authority of Thailand (AOT) to make the move.

Air Asia Plane

An AirAsia plane on the ground in Kuala Lumpur

The move will take place on 1 October 2012, and comes in the wake of over-crowding at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the government’s decision last week to drastically drop fees for airlines agreeing to use the old airport. The goal is to make Don Muang the main airport for low cost carriers.

All AirAsia flights – both domestic and international – will be based at Don Muang. Passengers who have already booked flights on the airline don’t need to do anything. If you’ve booked flights on or after the 1st of October and are nervous about the change, AirAsia is waiving its usual change fees for a shift in travel dates up to seven days.

There will no doubt be more on this story before October, so stay tuned.

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Posted in Airlines, Airport Updates

New Body Scanners at Bangkok BKK

Posted on Friday 15 June 2012 by Michael

Starting today, international security screenings at Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi International Airport will start using full body scanners of the type used in the United States. Passengers have the option of using the new scanners or the old metal detectors, but the new technology is expected to speed up security screenings.

The new scanners are part of a major revamp of the immigration and screening process, which also includes automated immigration gates for Thai passport holders. As part of the changes, security screening has been moved to before immigration rather than after it. Part of the reasoning behind this is so that passengers carrying prohibited items can give them to friends or family rather than throwing them away.

 

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Posted in Airlines

New Routes and Increased Service Around Southeast Asia

Posted on Wednesday 2 May 2012 by Michael

There seem to be a lot of new routes, increased services, and even a few new airlines in the region. Here’s some of the more interesting items to hit my inbox this week:

Air Asia to fly Bali – Yogyakarta

Budget behemoth Air Asia Indonesia is set to launch direct service between Bali Denpasar (DPS) and Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto International Airport (JOG). The Central Java area around Yogyakarta is Indonesia’s second biggest tourist draw, with sights such as the massive Buddhist temple-mountain of Borobodur and the extensive complex of Hindu temples at Prambanan.

The low cost carrier has up to now has used only Jakarta as a hub, which makes getting around the huge country using them difficult, versus the national carrier Garuda, which connects many major cities directly. The service will launch on 8 June 2012. There’s an introductory price of around US$ 16 one-way but those seats will fill up fast. Expect to pay double that or more.

Increased Service to Yangon

With the easing of political tensions within Myanmar (Burma) and the reduced isolation of the country, there’s a mad rush of tourism to the place. Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Silk Air and China Airlines have all announced increased frequency to Yangon, while Japanese carrier ANA has announced resumption of Tokyo – Yangon service after a break of more than ten years. Both of the Thai carriers are increasing flights from two to three per day.

New Budget Carriers Enter the Fray

Two new low cost airlines are set to enter the apparently not-crowded-enough Southeast Asian market:

Scoot is a new medium-to-long haul budget carrier under Singapore Airlines. They started up in late 2011 with service between Singapore and Australia, and will start service between Singapore and Bangkok in July. For details see the Fly Scoot web site.

Thai Smile is Thai Airways’ own new low cost entry (even though it owns a stake in Nok Air already). The airline’s inaugural flights are on 7 July 2012 with service between Bangkok, Macau and Krabi. See the Thai Smile web site for full details.

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Posted in Airlines