Bangkok / 5 March 2019 (Today) – Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited headed by the airline’s executives, Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President, Mr. Prote Setsuwan, Vice President - Marketing, and Mr. Varong Israsena Na Ayudhya, Vice President - Sales, jointly reveal the company’s business outlook for 2019 at the Grand Ballroom 2, InterContinental, Bangkok. 

Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President of Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited commented that, "In 2018, total revenue of the company was 27,943.6 million baht. Net profit was reported amounting to 356.8 million baht, in which the profit attributable to the equity holders of the company was 249.3 million baht. Earnings per share was 0.12 baht. The total number of passengers in 2018 was 5.95 million passengers, increased by 0.1 percent from the previous year due to the growth of Point-of-Sale in overseas markets, which was up by 15.0 percent compared to same period last year. In 2019, the number of passengers is expected to grow 3 percent while the passenger revenue is expected to grow 3.5 percent. The passenger load factor in 2019 is expected to be at 70 percent in which passenger load factor in 2018 was at 68.6 percent.

“In 2018, we offered new non-stop services linking Thailand and some of the main cities in CLMV to serve the growing travel demand such as Chiang Mai-Hanoi (Vietnam). In addition to that, we also increased flights frequency between Bangkok-Vientiane (Laos) from 7 flights a week to 14 flights a week, Bangkok-Mandalay (Myanmar) from 7 flights a week to 11 flights a week and Bangkok-Phu Quoc (Vietnam) from 4 flights a week to 7 flights a week.

“In 2018, company’s subsidiaries and associated companies in airport-related performances were improved. Bangkok Air Catering – BAC has 25 percent market share. BAC currently has a total of 20 airline customers at Suvarnabhumi airport, 12 customers at Phuket airport and Gourmet Primo Co., Ltd has 12 customers. Worldwide Flight Services Bangkok Air Ground Handling Company Limited (BFS Ground) has 56 percent market share and is currently serving 79 airline customers. Bangkok Airways Ground Service Company Limited (PGGS) has 49 percent market share and has a total of 69 airline customers.”

“Regarding our routes expansion plan for 2019, we will still focus on expanding our network to cover the most important destinations throughout CLMV in order to facilitate our passengers and our codeshare partners. We will further utilize our strategic flying hubs which are Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi), Samui and Chiang Mai by offering new non-stop services from these airports to some high potential destinations in Thailand and CLMV countries such as Bangkok-Cam Ranh (Vietnam) which was launched in January 2019. We also plan to launch two new routes from Chiang Mai which are; Chiang Mai-Krabi (One Way) and Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang (Laos) at the end of March and the beginning of April respectively. In addition to that, we plan to increase flight frequency between Bangkok and popular destinations such as Bangkok-Danang (Vietnam) from 7 flights per week to 14 flights per week, starting from 1 March 2019 and Krabi-Bangkok from 21 flights per week to 28 flights per week, starting from 31 March 2019.”

“Moreover, we will increase the number of our codeshare partners. To date, Bangkok Airways is in partnership with 27 airlines around the world, including our latest partner – Philippines Airlines. In 2019, we expect to sign more agreements with another 2-3 carriers.” 

“This year, the company plans to invest in many projects such as aircraft-related projects which have a total budget of 1,815 million bath for the purchase of 2 ATR72-600 aircrafts (scheduled delivery in the 2nd quarter of 2019), the purchase of aircraft spare parts, cabin refurbishment for Airbus aircraft (2019-2021), airport-related projects such as MRO at Sukhothai airport and facility renovation (958 million baht), Trat Airport’s runway extension and development (334 million baht). IT systems-related projects such as Passenger Services Systems that will be transformed from Sabre to Amadeus, Organization Development System (SAP-ERP) which has a total budget of 193 million baht. Moreover, we also plan to invest in other aviation-related businesses such as our aviation training center. We plan to expand our Bangkok Air Catering business by opening a new air catering house at the Chiang Mai international airport (expected to be in operation by the 2nd quarter of 2019). Moreover, we plan to expand our culinary ventures beyond airline catering by opening a new Thai restaurant called - Ruen Noppakao.”

“Bangkok Airways continually strives to support and be involved in Corporate Social Responsibility activities which remain one of our core missions whilst operating our business. This year, we aim to produce a sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility work in two main areas which are environmental-concerned and community-concerned. Our CSR projects this year will be under the concept “Blue Heart – A Love to Share” that represents the love that we, Bangkok Airways management and staff would like to pass on to the environment and community through our various CSR projects such as our Love Samui – Save the coconut trees project, Mangrove Trees planning project at Trat province, Weir building projects in Koh Samui and Lampang province, United for Wildlife project, PG Edugether project, English Club with Bangkok Airways project and many more.” added Mr. Puttipong.

Mr. Prote Setsuwan, Vice President-Marketing, revealed Bangkok Airways marketing directions for 2019 stating that, “Our marketing goal this year is to support sales activities and increase sales volume through various marketing activities and campaigns that we plan to roll out throughout the year. We plan to be more pro-active in terms of marketing this year by working more closely with numerous online travel agencies (OTAs) and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from around the world to build Bangkok Airways brand awareness in the overseas markets. Nevertheless, we will still support our Global Sales Agents with attractive sales promotions and marketing promotions.”

“We will use integrated strategies to help elevate Bangkok Airways brand positioning in both Thailand and the overseas markets. We will continue exercising our Sport & Tourism Marketing strategy in order to create and strengthen our brand awareness with connections to our sport fans. Some of our activity highlights include a partnership with one of Europe’s most anticipated football teams – Borussia Dortmund. This partnership not only elevate Bangkok Airways brand in the international level, but it also helps widen our customer base, especially European travelers who are considered as one of Bangkok Airways key markets. Bangkok Airways Boutique Series - running events will be held in 6 destinations throughout Thailand which are; Lampang, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Samui and Krabi. This year we are honored to work with Mr. Atsanai Anankiri (aka Stupidnoobmac), a famous cartoonist, to design running shirts and medals for the whole series. In addition to that, we will also offer special benefits to those who purchase air tickets and travel on Bangkok Airways flights to the races such as special fares, complimentary entry fee for the race, special lane for BIB pick-up and many more. This year, we expect to have a total of 35,000 racers participating in our Bangkok Airways Boutique Series 2019, which is about 40 percent more than in 2018.

“This year additionally, Bangkok Airways will be sponsoring various sports-related and tourism-related events such as the Le Tour De France in Phang-Nga province, the THAI FIGHT which is seen as one of the most celebrated combat events in the world, the Phuket Old Town Festival, Chiang Rai International Balloon Fiesta, Chiang Mai Songkran Festival and Color Moon Festival in Koh Pha-Ngan.”

“Bangkok Airways is currently an official sponsor for 7 professional football teams in Thailand which are Chiang Rai United, Chiang Mai FC, Sukhothai FC, Trat FC, Lampang FC, Chiang Rai City FC, and Samui City FC which the first four teams are in the Thai Premier League Division. These partnerships help Bangkok Airways create new customer bases as well as strengthen relationships between the airline and local communities.”

“Apart from that, we will enhance our partnership marketing strategy in order to increase the company’s revenue. Some of our plans include expanding partnerships with credit card companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia. We will also work closely with government and private sectors in CLMV countries to help promote Thailand and South East Asian tourism.”

“This year, we will continue to focus on building customer loyalty through various tailored-made campaigns such as our Beyond Flying campaign in which passengers can present their boarding pass or FlyerBonus card at more than 200 participating restaurants, department stores, beauty clinics nationwide to receive special discounts. In addition to that, we also plan to enhance our FlyerBonus member experience by developing our systems to be more accessible and easier for points redemptions. Recently, we have joined hands with one of Thailand’s largest credit card companies – KTC and launched KTC-Bangkok Airways credit cards with the hope to increase numbers of members and to promote Bangkok Airways brand through KTC existing clients.”

“We are currently in the process of changing our Passenger Services Systems (PSS) from Sabre to Amadeus which is expected to be completed by the end of July. This change will help Bangkok Airways enhance our passengers’ digital journey as the new system will allow passengers to book or modify their reservations more conveniently.”

“For Thailand markets, we have the U Fare campaign that offers great fares and amazing benefits to college students plus our Resident Card campaign that allows passengers whose residence is in Samui, Trat and Sukhothai to able to fly at a more reasonable fare. We have also created some special promotional fares for our elderly passengers, disabled passengers, and government officers. As you can see, this year we are trying to cater to a very wide audience so that our brand can be grown in the broader Thai market.” Mr. Prote added.

Mr. Varong Israsena Na Ayudhya – Vice President-Sales, revealed Bangkok Airways 2019 sales plan saying that, “This year, Bangkok Airways will transform itself to a fully digital-integrated airline. We aim to increase the total sales target by 3.5 percent this year. To achieve the set target, we will focus more on selling our tickets online. Last year, we developed our systems to be able to connect to those online travel agencies (OTAs) such as eDreams ctrips mystifly Make My Trip (MMT) as well as to be more visible in our potential markets around the world.”

“This year, we will still concentrate on increasing sale volume from the CLMV countries which are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, as we foresee that these countries still project notable economic growth and high travel demand. Additionally, we also plan to tap into the corporate market in these countries. We together with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) recently launched the “Fly & Meet Double Bonus - Redefined” campaign to attract more corporate travelers from the IndoChina region to fly and have meetings in Thailand.”

“For domestic sales, we will be more focused on corporate travelers as we see the growing trend of this particular market. We are confident that our products and services are suitable for these travelers. Moreover, we will be offering numerous special-fare promotions year-round to boost advance sales domestically.”

“We plan as well to increase our revenue through more chartered flights. Currently, we have chartered flights between Samui-Chengdu and Samui-Chongqing. We also plan to increase our ancillary revenue from selling premier products such as lounge upgrades, seat upgrades as well as advertisement space in our in-flight magazine.” added Mr. Varong.