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  1. #1

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    AirAsia cancels Phuket-Bali flights

    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.



  2. #2
    Thailand Expat
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    Not surprising that a Phuket to Bali route is not profitable. I'd imagine the islands are competitor locations rather than complimentary.

  3. #3
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    Phuket to Bali Fights Halted 'Temporarily' Over Engine Damage
    By Chutima Sidasathian
    Monday, September 24, 2012
    PHUKET: Paradise to paradise flights between Phuket and Bali are to be suspended temporarily from October 1 because of a damaged aircraft engine, a spokesperson for Thai AirAsia said today.

    ''The service will resume as soon as possible,'' she said. ''It's purely a problem of being able to keep enough aircraft servicing all our flights. 'We are still taking bookings.''



    With occupied seats on the Phuket-Bali flights averaged 60 percent, concerns remain about whether the flights will continue as a Monday, Wednesday Friday and Sunday Phuket-Bali service.

    Pressures on capacity appear to be growing as Thai AirAsia moves to Don Muang airport in Bangkok from October 1 and on the same day opens a new service to the terracotta warriors city of Xi'an in China.

    The latest AirAsia connection to China is the fifth Bangkok-China connection for the budget airline.

    More Chinese are turning to travel and consider Thailand to be a suitable and relatively close destination.

    Whether the Phuket-Bali service resumes at the same frequency should become evident by early next month. For some, the chance to take in two paradises on one holiday trip may have to wait.

    AirAsia frequently experiments with connecting links around South East Asia and rates Phuket as its second hub in Thailand.

    A direct service between Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City was tried a couple of years ago but abandoned for lack of passengers.

  4. #4
    A Cockless Wonder
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    I got that flight this year. Plane was quite full.

    It was cheap though so maybe that is why they are not making so much profit on it. Only $90 I think even though it must be quite a distance.

    Try flying to or from anywhere from Aussie and you will be up for $300-$500 minimum each way.

    Hope they don't can the route permanently as it is great to be able to hop between destinations without going through a hub.

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