PG rolls out Samui-China link
Bangkok Airways has cancelled plans to fly from Samui to Chongqing in China, but will go ahead with a service between the Thai holiday island and Guangzhou starting this December.
The December launch of a service from Samui to a mainland Chinese city marks the return of Bangkok Airways to China after a five-year absence.
In the early 2000s Bangkok Airways flew to six cities in China using A319s out of its Bangkok hub. It started with services to Jinghong followed by Guilin, Xi’an and Shenzhen. By April 2015, it added flights to Zhengzhou and Hangzhou, but abruptly cancelled all services to mainland China during the following year.
In its latest plans for China routes, the airline removed the Chongqing service from its provisional timetable that was due to launch from Samui, 16 December.
The airline had planed three weekly services using an A319 aircraft on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
The airline’s launch of a Samui – Guangzhou service remains on the books with a filing for four weekly flights starting 14 December. The service, using an A319, is schedule to increase to daily from 27 January 2017.
Earlier in the year, the airline announced it would start three routes between China and Samui by the end of this year. It already has a flight to Hong Kong from the island.
It claimed it would roll out services from Samui to Chongqing, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
The long-term objective is to establish Samui as the airline’s second hub after Suvarnabhumi Airport, but there are local communities on the island that oppose introducing more flights. An environment impact assessment is underway and if the result is positive more flights will be allowed.
The airport can accommodate up to 50 flights daily under the present EIA framework and the proposal under consideration, that required a new EIA study, recommends 75 daily flight slots.
Bangkok Airways offers daily services to Hong Kong from Samui and through codeshare and interline agreements with Cathay Pacific, China Eastern and China Southern it taps the China outbound market to connect with the Hong Kong-Samui service.
(Source: Routes Online)
