Onward connections from Bangkok Airport

Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi airport is one of Asias key commercial hubs with almost 48 million passengers using the airport in 2011. The city of Bangkok itself is a multicultural, cosmopolitan capital with a thriving international community. Due to its popularity Bangkok airport has had to grow in order to deal with the increasing number of passengers through the airport. Some arrive for their journey into Bangkok and Thailand whilst others are merely transiting for their onward connection to yet another of the worlds great cities. There are a number of scheduled flights to Bangkok from the UK everyday but what this paper looks at, is the increasing number of destinations or connecting cities that Bangkok serves.

Thai Airways is of course the most predominant airline at the airport, closely followed by Bangkok Airways which is more of a regional Thai carrier. Thai Airways currently offers flights to 71 destinations from

Bangkok, ranging from other areas of Thailand such as Chang Mai and Hat Yai to much further flung destinations of London, Johannesburg, Auckland and Los Angeles, the airlines only North American destination. Despite both Delta Airlines and United Airlines flying between Bangkok and Tokyo, this is the only direct North
Figure 1 - Thai Airways' Asia and Australasia route network

American

service

to

Bangkok.

Bangkok Airways is the next busiest airline at the airport with both domestic and international services. The airline offers flights to 14 destinations in Thailand, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent from Bangkok, as well as onward connections from Koh Samui to Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Despite the wonderful beaches on offer in Thailand, the airline flies a regular service to the Maldives, another popular destination for holidaymakers from South East Asia.

Following a month long row over its new location, low cost carrier Thai Air Asia will be transferring all of its services from Suvarnabhumi airport to Don Mueang airport, located just to the north of Bangkok in a move similar to that of European budget airlines who fly to the more distant, regional airports for bigger discounts on airport and aircraft services including landing fees, check-in counters and office rent. The move will take place from 1st October 2012 with the airlines 8 million passenger traffic expected to increase to 16 million by 2016.

Thai Smile is a new low cost carrier from Thai Airways. Seeking to do what many other international airlines have done by expanding their reach and taking full advantage of the low-cost airline industry, Thai Airways saw a gap in the market and took it. Thai Smile launched flights to Macau on 7th July 2012 and will launch flights to Chang Mai from 1st August, with additional Figure 2 - Check-in area at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport services from Bangkok to Krabi from 16th August, Surat Thani from 1st September and Phuket from 16th September. Despite begin classed as lowcost, Thai Smile will operate under the TG airline code of Thai Airways as well as providing onward connections to other Thai Smile, Thai Airways and Star Alliance destinations.

Russian Airlines have a popular spot at Bangkok with Aeroflot, S7 and Transaero Airlines all offering flights to Bangkok from Russia. Some services are only seasonal; however, Thailand is a popular destination with the Russian market and is expected to grow over the next few years.

The Chinese airlines come in next with services to all over the country, including the big cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing, as well as the regional cities of Xian, Ningbo and Wuhan with airlines such as Air China, China Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines.

As one of the worlds most popular holiday destinations, both for backpackers and sunseekers, Bangkok and Thailand has been an increasingly popular destination for European travellers. Direct flights to Bangkok are offered from most of the continents major cities including London, Paris, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Vienna. For the more regional cities and airports, with the
Figure 3 - Finnair flies directly to Bangkok from Helsinki

growing number of Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates and Etihad Airways flying to more

regional airports, the opportunities to connect onto Bangkok are improving quickly. Flights to Bangkok from Manchester is just one example with Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates all offering a number of daily services to the city. These Middle Eastern airlines also allow travellers from Africa and even North America the chance to connect on to Asia through modern, well designed airports.

India has seen an increase in tourists to Thailand and Bangkok in recent years, particularly with the development of low-cost airlines such as IndiGO flying directly from Delhi and Mumbai to Bangkok. Other areas of Asia have too seen the low-cost (and scheduled flights) to Bangkok boom from areas such as Seoul, Singapore, Jakarta, Tokyo and Osaka to name a few.

And so onto Australasia and the cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Auckland, which offer good connections to Thailands capital. Again its a popular backpacking and holiday spot for these guys which has also encouraged the growth of low-cost airlines between the two continents.

The Suvarnabhumi airport is in a current state of expansion with a plan to add an additional satellite stand and new domestic terminal as well as a further two runways to handle the increased capacity. With the expansion, the airport would be expected to have a capacity of 103 million passengers a year by 2024.