Bangkok Airways
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox airline
Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited (Template:Langx) is a regional airline based in Bangkok, Thailand.<ref>"Contact Us Template:Webarchive." Bangkok Airways. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.</ref> It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos, Maldives, and Singapore. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai capital Bangkok.<ref name="FI">Template:Cite news</ref>
History
The airline was established in 1968 as Sahakol Air, operating air taxi services under contract from the Overseas International Construction Company (OICC), an American construction company, the United States Operations Mission (USOM), and a number of other organisations engaged in oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Thailand. It began scheduled services in 1986, becoming Thailand's first privately owned domestic airline.<ref>Thailand's Glittering Gem Airliner World September 2024 pages 28-31</ref> It rebranded to become Bangkok Airways in 1989. The airline is owned by Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth (92.31 percent), Sahakol Estate (4.3 percent), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (1.2 percent), and other shareholders (2.19 percent). At one point, it also wholly owned subsidiary airline Siem Reap Airways in Cambodia.<ref name="FI"/>
It built its own airport, Samui Airport on the island of Ko Samui, which opened in April 1989 and offers direct flights between the island and Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Krabi, Pattaya, Phuket, and Singapore.<ref>Airways Flight Schedule Template:Webarchive, Retrieved on 26 November 2008</ref> The airline opened its second airport in Sukhothai Province in 1996. A third airport was built in Trat Province, opening in March 2003 to serve the tourism destination of Ko Chang.
The airline made its first foray into jet aircraft in 2000, when it started adding Boeing 717s to its fleet. Until that time, Bangkok Airways had flown propeller-driven aircraft, primarily the ATR 72. It had also operated the De Havilland Canada Dash 8, the Shorts 330 and for a short time a Fokker 100. The carrier added another jet, the Airbus A320, to its fleet in 2004.
Bangkok Airways planned to order wide-body aircraft as part of its ambition to expand its fleet but these plans to expand to the long haul market eventually fell short. It wanted to add its first wide-body jets in 2006 to serve longer-haul destinations such as the UK, India, and Japan and is looking at Airbus A330, Airbus A340 and Boeing 787 aircraft. In December 2005, Bangkok Airways announced it had decided to negotiate an order for six Airbus A350-800 aircraft in a 258-seat configuration, to be delivered to the airline commencing in 2013, but the order of the aircraft was cancelled in 2011 due to the further delay of the Airbus plane.<ref>Bangkok Airways selects A350 for new long range services Template:Webarchive 30 December 2005</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2007, Royal Household Secretary General Kaewkwan Watcharoethai awarded Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth a royal warrant to display the Garuda emblem.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2017, Bangkok Airways received a new Air Operator Certificate, recertified to safety standards set out by ICAO from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
On 20 November 2024, it was reported that Bangkok Airways will be wet-leasing two aircraft from Amelia from 1 December 2024 to 29 March 2025 to overcome the shortage of aircraft especially during the upcoming peak tourist season in Thailand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
By late 2024, Bangkok Airways' current jet fleet of Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft were aging and the airline confirmed that it was evaluating both the Airbus A220 and Embraer E-Jet E2 jets as possible replacements. The airline will soon put out a request for proposals from the manufacturers for this potential order with deliveries intended to begin around 2028.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Financials
For the fiscal year ending 31 December 2019, Bangkok Airways reported a profit of 351 million baht on revenues of 29,418 million baht. Its assets were valued at 61,908 million baht.<ref name="SET-2019">Template:Cite web</ref> BA lost 300 million baht during the first quarter of 2020, compared with a profit of 500 million baht a year earlier. Earnings have continued to decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the airline has asked for government assistance.<ref name="NAR-20200701">Template:Cite news</ref> As of 31 December 2019, BA employed 3,010 persons.<ref name="BA-AR2019">Template:Cite book</ref>
Destinations
Template:More citations needed section Template:As of, Bangkok Airways flies to the following destinations:<ref name="BA-About">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BA-FS">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BA-Routes">Template:Cite web</ref>
Codeshare agreements
As of August 2024, Bangkok Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines.
- Air Astana
- Air France<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Austrian Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- British Airways<ref name="CAPA BA profile">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Cathay Pacific
- China Airlines
- El Al<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- EVA Air
- Finnair<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Garuda Indonesia
- Gulf Air<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Hong Kong Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Japan Airlines
- KLM<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Lao Airlines
- Lufthansa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Malaysia Airlines
- Oman Air<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Philippine Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Swiss International Air Lines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Thai Airways International
- Turkish Airlines
- Vietnam Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- WestJet
- XiamenAir<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Interline agreements
- Air India<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- APG Airlines<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Hahn Air<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Kuwait Airways<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Scoot<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Swiss International Air Lines<ref name="SWISS partner airlines">Template:Cite web</ref>
Fleet
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Current fleet
Template:As of, Bangkok Airways operates the following aircraft:<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 11 | — | 12 | 108 | 120 | |
| — | 144 | 144 | ||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 2 | — | — | 162 | 162 | |
| ATR 72-600 | 10 | — | — | 70 | 70 | |
| Total | 23 | — | ||||
Historic fleet
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-300 | 1 | 1997 | 2001 | |
| ATR 72-200 | 8 | 1994 | 2006 | |
| ATR 72-500 | 8 | 2002 | 2019 | |
| 1 | 2009 | HS-PGL crashed as Flight 266. | ||
| Boeing 717-200 | 4 | 2000 | 2009 | |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 | 1 | 1989 | 1994 | |
| 1 | 1990 | HS-SKI crashed as Flight 125. | ||
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 | 5 | 1990 | 1996 | |
| Embraer EMB-110P2 Bandeirante | Template:Unknown | Template:Unknown | Template:Unknown | |
| Fokker 100 | 1 | 1992 | 1993 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 | 1 | 2008 | 2008 | |
| Short 330-200 | 1 | 1992 | 1994 |
Airports owned
Bangkok Airways owns and operates three airports:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Samui Airport (25 April 1989 – present)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Sukhothai Airport (12 April 1996 – present)
- Trat Airport (8 April 2003 – present)
Award and recognition
On 24 June 2024, Bangkok Airways was voted 2024 Best Regional Airline in the World by Skytrax, for the 8th consecutive year running.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Incidents and accidents
- On 7 December 1987, a Sahakol Air Hawker Siddeley HS 748 Series 2A (registration HS-THH), was damaged beyond repair after it overran the runway on landing at Udon Thani Airport with no fatalities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- On 21 November 1990, a de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 operating as Bangkok Airways Flight 125 crashed on Koh Samui while attempting to land in heavy rain and high winds. All 38 people on board perished.<ref name=Planecrash>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In August 2002 an ATR 72-200 skidded off the runway while landing at Siem Reap International Airport. There were no injuries. The airport was closed for two days.
- On 4 August 2009, Bangkok Airways Flight 266, operated by an ATR 72 between Krabi and Koh Samui, skidded off the runway, killing a captain. The 68 passengers were evacuated.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Of the passengers evacuated, six sustained serious injuries while another four were treated for minor injuries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sponsorship
Bangkok Airways is currently an official sponsor of Chiangrai United, Sukhothai FC, Chiang Mai FC, Trat FC,<ref>"Bangkok Airways is the sponsor of Trat FC Template:Webarchive" Siamsport on 24 February 2014</ref> Lampang FC, Krabi FC, Kasetsart FC, Bangkok Christian College FC and Borussia Dortmund.<ref>"Bangkok Airways is the sponsor of Borussia Dortmund" Siamsport on 27 March 2018</ref>
References
External links
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