News
Nok CEO Sarasin takes Chinese lessons
November 25th 2016
Twelve-year-old Thai Budget carrier, Nok Air, has posted a third quarter net loss of 1.1 billion baht that widened from a loss of 653 million baht in the previous year. Read More »
Nok said the Thai government’s clampdown on Mainland Chinese zero dollar junkets to the kingdom has resulted in weaker loads and yields across its network, but particularly on its five regular charter routes to the Mainland, including a daily Phuket-Chengdu service.
Zero dollar junkets are operated by scammers who sell tour packages to Mainland tourists at below cost. When the travellers arrive in Thailand they are coerced into buying goods such as gold and gems at inflated prices, a technique that allows the junket organisers to make up their losses.
Nok and parent Thai Airways International (THAI) have said arrivals from Mainland China decreased by up to 40% in recent months. Nok had planned to launch scheduled services from its Don Mueang home base to Kunming and Guangzhou in December, but has postponed the route launches to February.
THAI last week said it is looking to merge its three daily Bangkok-Beijing services into double daily operations because of weaker market conditions.
Nevertheless, the Mainland remains one of Thailand’s most important inbound markets. Tourist arrivals from China were supposed to grow from 7.9 million last year to 10 million this year.
To cement his commitment to China, Nok CEO, Patee Sarasin, told the Bangkok Post this week he had started taking daily one-hour Mandarin lessons for at least a year. “Being able to communicate with them in their own language is very important,” he said.
Separately, Nok took delivery of an off-factory B737-800 on Tuesday. Including this latest addition, Nok’s fleet is 23 B737-800s, 8 Bombardier Q400s and 2 ATR 72-500s that serve 24 domestic and three international destinations.
Speaking at CAPA in Singapore last week, Patee said Nok was now using Air Black Box’s Air Connection Engine to transfer passengers between members of the Value Alliance. "The key element is to provide more than just the booking, but the transfer of passengers through the network. That’s more a physical thing," Patee said.
Long-haul budget carrier, Thai AirAsia X, said it was considering A330 flights from Bangkok to Warsaw, Budapest and Prague next year, because the Thailand-Eastern Europe market was largely underserved.
