AirAsia adds more Thailand-Vietnam flights

PHOTO: The Golden Bridge in the Ba Na Hills, near Da Nang

Thai AirAsia says it’s adding new routes linking Thailand to destinations in Vietnam, as it seeks to increase its market share in the Mekong Region – Cambodia, Southern China provinces, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam

The latest promotion supports the launch of a service from Chiang Mai in North Thailand to Da Nang in central Vietnam with fares starting at 1,090++ baht one way.

It’s the third Thai-Vietnam service set for a launch this year along with flights from Don Mueang airport to Can Tho and to Nha Trang.

In 2018, Thai AirAsia served 2.2 million passengers in the Mekong Region, accounting for 10% of all its passengers served and up 12% from 2017 traffic.

On routes to Vietnam, the airline handled 760,000 passengers to and from Vietnam in 2018, up 24% from 2017 with an average load factor of 87%.

“The Da Nang flight will start 12 April as we are looking to attract Vietnamese travellers to Thailand during the Songkran holiday,” said Nattinee.

The 1,090 baht one-way fare is bookable until March 10 for travel from April 12 to October 26.

The route affirms Thai AirAsia’s strategy to establish connections to its regional flight bases and follows Chiang Mai-Hanoi route, which started in 2018 and has maintained a load factor average of 88% and prompted calls for more connections.

In the Vietnamese market overall, AirAsia maintains the most capacity between Thailand and Vietnam, serving 19% of all passengers between the two countries with an average load factor across all its routes of 87%.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 15.4 million foreign visitors travelled to the country in 2018, up 19.9% from 12.9 million in 2017, with over 12 million from other Asian countries.

A total of 349,000 Thai people travelled to Vietnam last year, up 15.9% from 300,000 in 2017. In sixth place Thai visitors followed the top five supply markets China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.

PHOTO: Nha Trang coastline, Vietnam