AirAsia cancels Phuket-Bali flights
PHUKET: Thai AirAsia is to drop its direct flights between Phuket and Bali from October 1. It has been the sole operator on the route.
If you want to watch the sun drop over Bali's Kuta Beach, you're going to have to go via Bangkok. Photo by Egor Pasko.
It is not clear yet whether the flights will be resumed during the high season, or ever. Oddly, flights on the route after October 1 can still be booked online.
The airline’s contact centre staff were able to say only that the cancellation is “for commercial reasons”. A contact at the airline’s Bangkok office told The Phuket News, “We will be sending out a press release in the next few days.”
A reader also complained on Facebook about the two-week suspension of direct Phuket-Udon Thani flights, but the contact in Bangkok expressed only surprise, saying that the service had not been suspended to her knowledge.
The Airasia website, however, shows Phuket-Udon flights stopping on September 16 and resuming on October 1.
Meanwhile, to balance the scales somewhat, AirAsia wheeled out it CEO Tassapon Bijleveld to ballyhoo a new service from Bangkok to Xi’an in China will begin on November 16, making AirAsia the only airline to operate this route.
Mr Bijleveld said: “Thai AirAsia is very excited to launch our third new route in China this year. After the recent announcement of Bangkok-Wuhan, there has been positive feedback and demand for connectivity to China.”
To launch the new service, it will sell a one-way promotional fare for B1,850, inclusive of taxes and surcharges from September 21 to 24, for travel between November 16 and September 30, 2013.
The Xi’an-bound flight will leave Bangkok at 09:30 and land at 14:35. The Bangkok-bound flight will depart at 15:25 and arrive at 18:40.
Xi’an is a historical city in northwest China, famous for the Terracotta Warriors of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, which have been proclaimed as the eighth Wonder of the World.