View Full Version : ThailandAirAsia:DoubleTrouble@Phuket
jpatokal
18-11-03, 10:53 PM
Not quite sure if this qualifies for Mass Transit, but given Air Asia's prices close enough...
So what's the word on the street regarding Air Asia? I've flown them quite a bit in Malaysia and I think it's the greatest thing since sliced butter, the fares are very affordable compared to those from the previous monopoly MAS. And I'm trying to get on one of the first KL-Phuket trips very soon now...
Despite the existing new operators Thailand's domestic market is still quite distorted, it's cheaper for me to fly BKK-SIN-BKK than to pop down to Koh Samui or Phuket. Air Asia's fares sound like they will finally change this... so is the opposition coming from the fact that Thaksin will own 51% of the new Thai subsidiary, or that 49% is in Malaysian hands?
jpatokal
10-10-06, 11:32 AM
Air Asia is still rocking, although the article doesn't reveal if the Thai operation is profitable yet. (The mothership certainly is!) From Business Times (Malaysia) (http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Monday/Latest/20061009152855/Article/):
AirAsia and its associates’ passenger numbers increased 91.1 per cent to 1.13 million people for August 2006, from 591,556 people a year ago. ...
As for Thailand, AirAsia saw an increase of 69.3 per cent in passenger numbers, with August 2006 drawing 263,827 passengers against 155,813 passengers in the same period last year.
Hopefully the wings won't fall off the Thai Air Asia Plane: -
After leaving Suvarnabhumi Airport Saturday morning, a Thai AirAsia plane had to abort its flight to Narathiwat, officially due to technical reasons, but passengers said the U-turn was more about part of its wing falling off.
The jet plane eventually reached its destination safely after a five-hour delay at Suvarnabhumi and lengthy arguments between passengers and airline representatives.
One of the 94 passengers, Anothai Polsuwan, 40, a lecturer at Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, said they boarded at 9.35am and after half an hour into the flight, the captain announced that a technical problem had occurred and turned the plane back to Bangkok.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30015647
Hopefully the wings won't fall off the Thai Air Asia PlaneI also read that article in the printed edition (or was it on the website, but a different version?), where they gave more details (i.e. the linked online text is not complete, for some reason)......
Apparently the passengers were initially told they'd get a replacement aircraft for their flight, only to learn that they would have to take exactly the same plane, and this after observing a couple of "not very confident looking" mechanics trying to fix the wing. However, in the end it could not be completely restored, as the required spare part was not available. So it was left out and the cavity covered in a makeshift fashion. Still, Air Asia was convinced the aircraft could be used, and the Chief Engineer tried to assure the pax that the part was not essential to the plane's operation and safety, or something to that effect. :eek: (Is that possible at all, considering aviation regulations and all???)
Scared and angered passengers then started a lengthy argument, asking airline representatives to join the flight in order to back up their claims that it was safe. Apparently refunds were offered, but finally the passengers all caved in and reboarded. Nice experience! Good PR, too. :rolleyes:
I flew Thai Air Asia to Singapore yesterday. Well, didn't notice falling anything off the plane.
jpatokal
11-10-06, 11:04 AM
More passengers / less plane = even higher ridership! :D
If they eliminate unnecessary parts like, say, the wings, then they could carry the same amount of people with just 0.5 times the plane and aim for super-profitable 200% occupancy. Unfortunately Thai Sky has taken this a little too far and tried to carry people with just 0.0 times the plane, which isn't working too well...
jpatokal
10-12-06, 10:23 AM
Not directly related to Thailand, but an interesting glimpse at Air Asia's business model:
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2006/12/642261/
Malaysian budget airline Air Asia has carried 26,000 passengers over the last two months, since it was licenced to provide flights from
Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi. All the flights have been full, and the average airfare has been $50 per trip, while the lowest has been $15. Air Asia made a profit just two hours after it began operating in Vietnam. ...
“We are also planning to initiate flights to Da Nang, and other flights from different points in Malaysia to different points in Vietnam, Hanoi, Da Nang and HCM City,” he said.
“Vietnam is a market with a lot of potential and Air Asia will not hesitate to compete in the market,” the president said, when asked if the air carrier would provide domestic flights when Vietnam opened the aviation market.
He added that Air Asia would offer different levels of airfare, and the average level would be $25 for the Hanoi – HCM City route.
Air Asia also flies from Bangkok to Hanoi, but does not have rights to fly to HCMC (Saigon) from anywhere.
Also, Thai Air Asia will start direct BKK-Langkawi flights (http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=235350&cat=nt) in January; while the article sounds a bit dodgy, the flights are already up for booking on Air Asia's site.
Scuba22
11-12-06, 06:15 PM
"Air Asia made a profit just two hours after it began operating in Vietnam"
I wonder what that even means... does "began operating" mean "began taking reservations" - if not, then how would they make revenues leading to profits? If so, then are they saying that they began taking reservations within two hours of "beginning operations" - which I would imagine includes registering the company, opening an office and recruiting... or is there some other definition of "beginning operations" that I don't know? Or perhaps they simply define "taking reservations" as "beginning operations", and all the work done before then doesn't count.
And what does "make a profit" in this context mean? Does it refer to paying for all the operational expense incurred from the company registration point to that point forward? Or is it a point-target - that within the first two hours they received more revenues than costs incurred?
A bizarre statement, IMHO.
By the way, do you know how many flights they operated in those first 2 months? At 26,000 passengers at $50/avg, that's $1.3 million - how many flights can one run on this (not to mention paying off the aircraft and other capital costs)?
The economics of this fascinate me - thanks!
Scuba
jpatokal
12-12-06, 10:48 AM
"Air Asia made a profit just two hours after it began operating in Vietnam"
I wonder what that even means... does "began operating" mean "began taking reservations" - if not, then how would they make revenues leading to profits? If so, then are they saying that they began taking reservations within two hours of "beginning operations" - which I would imagine includes registering the company, opening an office and recruiting... or is there some other definition of "beginning operations" that I don't know? Or perhaps they simply define "taking reservations" as "beginning operations", and all the work done before then doesn't count.
And what does "make a profit" in this context mean? Does it refer to paying for all the operational expense incurred from the company registration point to that point forward? Or is it a point-target - that within the first two hours they received more revenues than costs incurred?
I think you're reading a little too much into a flippant quotable quote. :D I presume it just means the revenue from flying passengers was greater than immediate operational expenses (fuel, parking, etc) for that one flight. But this, in itself, is actually quite notable as it typically takes 6-8 months for a new route to become even operationally profitable. (Then again, one flight being full doesn't mean they all are...)
By the way, do you know how many flights they operated in those first 2 months? At 26,000 passengers at $50/avg, that's $1.3 million - how many flights can one run on this (not to mention paying off the aircraft and other capital costs)?
According to Air Asia's press release (http://www.airasia.com/site/en/pressRelease.jsp?id=2ae1e3b9-ac1e00ae-d6ee2800-cdb4a1ab), they have flights from KL daily, using the 180-seat A320. 180 seats/flight * 2 flights/day * 30 days/month * 2 months = 21,600 seats, so I'm not sure where the remaining 5000 pax were flying? :confused:
Scuba22
13-12-06, 12:41 AM
I think you're reading a little too much into a flippant quotable quote.
Definitely. Flippant comments flip me off - more so when they're quoted!
it typically takes 6-8 months for a new route to become even operationally profitable.
I would imagine this all depended on load, no? So basically they're saying that their first flight made an operational profit. But you're right, that should be news enough - but no, they had to go with the meaningless hyperbole.
21,600 seats, so I'm not sure where the remaining 5000 pax were flying?
Hexcellent anaysis! I'm sure the astute journalist who wrote the earlier report is publishing his investigative piece on that right now!
Scuba22
Thai AirAsia Cancels Bangkok-Langkawi Route
By D. Arul Rajoo
CHIANGMAI, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- Thai AirAsia is cancelling its unprofitable Bangkok-Langkawi route, replacing it with an additional daily flight to Kuala Lumpur as it plans to expand to Dhaka in Bangladesh and Kathmandu in Nepal.
Chief executive officer Tasapon Bijleveld said the Langkawi destination, which has a load factor of less than 50 percent, will see its last flight on Saturday.
Tasapon said Thai AirAsia will increase its daily flights to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok to three daily in December, besides the four operated by its parent company, Malaysia-based AirAsia.
"The Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok route has a very good load factor, sometimes up to 90 percent. With more frequencies, we can offer more seats and make the tickets cheaper," he told reporters on a media tour here on board the airline's first Airbus 320 which arrived from France last week.
Besides Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, Thai AirAsia, which has 11 domestic and 11 international destinations, is also flying to Penang in Malaysia while the Kota Kinabalu route is served by AirAsia.
Tasapon also said Thai AirAsia plans to fly to Kathmandu and Dhaka within 12 to 15 months, depending on the approvals by the aviation bodies and governments of the two countries.
"With our new Airbus, we can actually fly up to between six and eight hours. But we prefer to keep to our low cost model and look at destinations within three and half hours for quick turnaround time," he said.
As part of its expansion plan, Tasapon said, it also plans to fly to Jakarta and Hong Kong in the coming months, as well as adding five more destinations in China, including Ghuangzhou.
"China is a very big market and with its open sky policy, we can add more destinations. Our current load factor is between 75 and 78 percent," he added.
He, however, said the airline's plan to fly to India is unlikely to materialise in the coming months due to the difficulty in getting landing rights in that country.
Asked if Thai AirAsia will increase the fuel surcharge due to the high oil price which has reached almost US$90 per barrel, Tasapon said this is unlikely as it will affect the low cost pricing structure and make travelling more expensive.
-- BERNAMA
Non-specific link:
http://www.bernama.com/
Also see previous post for Thai AirAsia news:
Thai AirAsia launches Airbus A320 in Chiang Mai
CHIANG MAI, Oct 25 (TNA) Thai AirAsia has rolled out its first new aircraft, an Airbus A320 jetliner, signaling its determination to win a larger share of the region's budget travelers, and the company plans also to open new domestic and international routes in the coming year.
The new aircraft A320 flew from Bangkok to the northern province of Chiang Mai on its inaugural flight, with media on board, on Wednesday.
The company ordered 40 new aircraft to join its fleet lineup during the next six years.
Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said the new and upgraded fleet will restore confidence among passengers who are concerned about the safety of budget airlines. The new aircraft is expected to elicit a good response from passengers of the economy carrier.
He said he is confident that the aviation industry will grow by 10-15 per cent next year as Thailand's political uncertainty disappears following the general election December 23.
Thailand's economy and tourism are expected to improve after the election as well.
Thai AirAsia plans also to open a new domestic route to Ranong as the province has the potential for tourism development. Regarding international routes, it will launch new flights to Chinese destinations including Guangzhou, Qongqing, Chengdu, Guilin, Shenzhen, and Hainan as well as to Indonesia's Jakarta.
Cabin occupancy is expected to increase to over 80 per cent next year from 78 per cent this year, he added. (TNA)-E004
Last Update : 2007-10-25 / 17:47:25 (GMT+7:00)
http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=32393
jpatokal
26-10-07, 01:19 PM
Thai AirAsia Cancels Bangkok-Langkawi Route
Tiger's Singapore-Udon Thani is also getting the axe next week. It doesn't seem to be very easy to fly anywhere in Thailand outside Bangkok (and maybe Phuket) profitably, or anywhere in Malaysia outside KL...
As for Thai Air Asia's first A320, this is a part of Air Asia's transition to an all-Airbus fleet. Present stats are 26 A320s and 36 B737s, with 124 (!) new A320s dribbling in by 2013.
I'm blowed if I really understand this. When I go to buy an LCC ticket with these very same airlines I am quoted one overall price. Or is it that they are planning one price fits all for local routes! Not at all clear!?:
..........
Several low-cost airlines, such as AirAsia, are considering revising their pricing policy to use one price that includes airfare, fuel surcharge, insurance and other fees, instead of charging all of these separately, like at present.
Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said this would afford travellers greater convenience when making reservations.
"We've been monitoring the uncertain jet-oil prices," said Tassapon, adding that nothing had been decided yet.
Thai AirAsia has been offering one-price ticket sales through its website for certain domestic routes on a trial basis.
One-Two-Go has also been testing one-price ticket sales with all-inclusive Bt1,850 fares between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai and Nakhon Si Thammarat. The offer will be effective from December 1.
Suchat Sritama The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/11/20/business/business_30056721.php
AirAsia May Start Charging Passengers For Baggages
SEPANG, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Bhd may start charging passengers for baggages as one of the measures to cope with the high oil prices, its chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes said.
"It is not fair to impose a fuel surcharge on someone not carrying a bag as opposed to someone carrying six bags.
"The heavier the plane the more fuel we burn," he told reporters after signing an engineering training programme with Aviation Australia here today.
Fernandes said this when asked to comment on the firm's fuel hedging in the face of increasing oil prices.
He said hedging was irrelevant because it was a short-term thing and oil prices were not real now because they were not based on fundamentals.
"I hedge a lot less now but we are more profitable than we were before.
"One must build a sustainable business whatever the cost of oil. Which means we need routes, which means we need Singapore," he said.
He said the carrier would also need to look at ways to lower its cost. (BERNAMA)
http://etna.mcot.net/view.php?id=1425
January 25, 2008 15:33 PM
AirAsia To Add Bangkok-JB Route In February
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- AirAsia is expected to ply the Bangkok-Johor Baharu route beginning Feb 25 with four flights a week.
The once-daily flight will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
An airline official said Bangkok will be the first destination in Thailand from Johor Baharu, targeting Johoreans, Singaporeans and also those flying into the city from Sabah and Sarawak.
Besides Bangkok, AirAsia will also fly to Medan and Surabaya from Johor Baharu soon, he said.
Currently, AirAsia and its Thai subsidiary, Thai AirAsia, operate seven flights daily from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, as well as serving Krabi, Phuket and Chiang Mai, on top of the Penang-Bangkok route.
The Bangkok-Langkawi and Bangkok-Kota Kinabalu services were discontinued last year due to low passenger load.
It's learnt that Thai AirAsia was not keen to operate the Johor Baharu-Bangkok route as it wanted to concentrate on strengthening its existing destinations while looking into the possibility of entering the Bangkok-Jakarta route and expanding its China base.
-- BERNAMA
Non-specific link:
http://www.bernama.com.my/
The first part of this article, about AirAsia plans for budget hotels, has been posted in a different thread:
(http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?p=19669#post19669)
..........
Thai AirAsia has been operating for four years and served 10 million passengers. The airline will focus on the continuing upgrade of its fleet and services and the establishment of a training centre for aeronautical engineers.
"This year, we expect to be not only the fastest-growing airline, but also the best airline in terms of service," Tassapon said.
This year, five new Airbus A320 aircraft will join the airline's fleet, with another five A320s scheduled for delivery next year. These aircraft are part of an order placed earlier for 40 A320s, all scheduled for delivery by 2012 from Toulouse, France.
Tassapon said the airline would be returning some Boeing 737-300 aircraft to their lessors this year as part of its fleet upgrade.
The airline will change its fleet composition from three Airbus A320s and 12 Boeing 737-300s to eight A320s and seven 737-300s this year. The change will allow the airline to fly more passengers, because of the larger seating capacity on the new aircraft.
Thai AirAsia will also soon open a training centre for aeronautical engineers, in order to support the airline's growth. It has already successfully launched a pilot-training programme with the Bangkok Aviation Centre.
The airline will also train engineers to help it apply safety policies. It will start accepting applications for its course this year.
The airline has finished training 40 cadet pilots who will become captains in the next five years.
Suchat Sritama
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/05/business/business_30064441.php
Thread on AirAsia in Malaysia - including ambitious plans for a crew-training academy that would almost certainly complement their more low-key crew-training plans in Thailand:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2123
One really wonders why the previous post in this thread, about a report in The Nation, made no mention of these losses: :rolleyes:
February 04, 2008 18:24 PM
Thai Airasia Suffers One Bilion Baht In Losses
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Thai Air Asia, which has hit the 10- million passengers mark as its celebrates its fourth anniversary, suffered losses of over one billion baht (10 baht=95 sen) last year due to penalties and maintenance costs after it cut short the lease period of its Boeing 737-300 fleet.
Chief Executive Officer Tassapon Bijleveld today described it as only a one-off loss as he was confident the airline will return to profit this year, with the target of carrying five million passengers as the arrival of five more Airbus 320 aircraft adds 20 percent to its seating capacity.
"The decision to bring the Airbus into service quickly and cut short the Boeing lease was made in November due to the rising oil price. Due to this, we had to pay penalties and maintenance cost involved in switching back the Boeing to its original condition before returning it," he told a media conference here.
Tassapon, who has been heading the Malaysian-based AirAsia's Thai subsidiary since its inception, said the management felt that it was the right decision in order to cut costs, adding that the airline will have 13 Airbus 320 and two Boeing 737-300 by end-2009.
Thai AirAsia, which has 1,400 staff including 70 pilots, earned 3.8 billion baht in 2006, compared to 3.4 billion baht in 2005 and about 2.3 billion baht in 2004.
Tassapon and five other top Thai AirAsia executives bought Shin Corp's 49 percent stake in Asia Aviation, the Thai entity which holds a 51 percent stake in Thai AirAsia, last year. The remaining 49 per cent equity is held by AirAsia.
"Initially we wanted to have three Airbus within five to six years but because of the high fuel price and maintenance, we changed our strategy. But that does not mean we are not growing, in fact our capacity grows naturally with 20 percent more capacity," he said.
In 2007, Thai AirAsia, which flies to 10 domestic and nine international destinations from Bangkok, as well as the Phuket-Singapore route, carried 4.2 million passengers, exceeding the three million mark achieved in 2006.
He said while some domestic routes like Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hatyai did very well last year largely due to foreign visitors, others like Surat Thani and Chiang Rai fared badly due to the economic slowdown.
Due to the ongoing fleet replacement, Tassapon said, all new destinations, including plans to go to India and more Chinese cities, have been put on hold for the next two years.
However, the airline plans to enter the Jakarta-Bangkok route in two months following the tremendous success of Indonesia AirAsia which started plying the route last November, he said, adding that Ho Chi Minh City will be included once there is approval from the Vietnamese authorities.
On the Bangkok-Langkawi route which was dropped after few months in service, Tassapon said although the resort island offers vast potential the load was low.
"We need six to eight months to build up a route. But we will certainly go again when the time is right," he said.
Tassapon said more than 55 percent of bookings are being made through the Internet, 20 percent via call centres and agents, seven percent from its booth at the Tesco hypermarket and the rest from sales at airports.
-- BERNAMA
Non-specific link:
http://www.bernama.com.my/
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Jetstar and Tiger slash Singapore-Phuket route
PHUKET: Citing a lack of demand, Jetstar Asia Airways has ditched its service between Phuket and Singapore, while Tiger Airways has halved its service of the same route.
Only 18 months after introducing a Phuket-Singapore air link, Singapore-based Jetstar Asia announced on March 30 that it has suspended its service of six flights a week. Low demand and a reallocation of resources were revealed as the reasons behind the sudden cancellation.
Meanwhile, the Straits Times reported on March 27 that Tiger Airways has reduced its Singapore-Phuket service from twice daily to once daily, while at the same time beefing up its routes to Vietnam and India.
“Inconsistent demand” was cited in the Straits Times report as being the primary reason for cutting back on the Phuket service.
Jetstar Asia, together with its sister airline Valuair, also shifted its focus to other markets, particularly Indonesia.
Valuair recently launched six weekly flights between Singapore and Medan and increased flights between Singapore and Jakarta from three daily to four daily.
Jetstar Asia introduced daily services to Kuala Lumpur and Macau from Singapore earlier this year and continues to operate its twice-daily Singapore-Bangkok link.
When asked whether Jetstar Asia would ever resume the Phuket-Singapore route, public relations manager Tan Khai Hua told the Gazette, “We are constantly evaluating the deployment of our resources and currently we are focused on other opportunities.
“However, we will review the possibility of resuming the route on a regular basis.”
Rival budget-airline Thai AirAsia is continuing its once-daily Singapore-Phuket flights while full-service carrier SilkAir is operating four daily flights on the same route throughout the low season.
Following Jetstar Asia’s announcement, Thai AirAsia was quick to issue a statement that it was “confident its load factor on the Phuket-Singapore route will reach over 80% in the next three to four months.”
Since opening the route in November, Thai AirAsia’s seat occupancy has risen from more than 60% to more than 70%.
Tassapon Bijleveld, Thai AirAsia CEO, said, “We are strongly confident in the Phuket-Singapore tourism market and expect it to grow stronger.
“A tremendous increase in traffic should come with the airline’s aggressive marketing of the route and the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s support. Already, the route is getting more attention from travelers from Singapore and Phuket.”
SilkAir recently trimmed its flight schedule from 32 flights per week to 28 weekly, but is set to resume the 32-flight schedule in October. Many of its seats are filled with transit passengers from parent company Singapore Airlines’ long-haul flights.
SilkAir’s Phuket branch manager, Hansoo Tan, told the Gazette, “We are enjoying healthy loads and Phuket remains one of our top-performing destinations.
“Outbound sales have shown growth in spite of the excess capacity on the route and as competitors pull out, we expect this trend to continue with more industry support.”
Regarding the outlook for travel between Singapore and Phuket, Mr Tan said, “We have no crystal ball here, but we always have to be prepared for the fact that leisure markets are elastic and are easily impacted by world developments and natural events.
“What makes Phuket special is it that it has shown itself to be an incredibly resilient destination. It is a quality product, easy to package and very accessible,” he said.
“Also, as Asia is growing increasingly affluent, we expect more interregional travel, which Phuket will benefit from,” he said.
“We’re not just looking to grow point-to-point traffic, but are constantly leveraging on the combined Singapore Airlines-SilkAir network of more than 90 destinations,” he added.
Key markets of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are important source markets for inbound tourism to Phuket, he said. India is among the emerging markets that SilkAir sees as offering “tremendous potential” for growth, he added.
SilkAir has operated the Singapore-Phuket route for nearly 20 years.
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6389
Air Asia will be charging for checked bags commencing April 21st 2008.
www.airasia.com/site/my/en/page.jsp?reference=baggage (http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/page.jsp?reference=baggage)
Pre-pay costs you 30 baht or if you pay on the day it's 50 baht. Got to love the AA link where all the passengers are smiling because they saved 40% by pre paying...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
AirAsia flight forced to land in Phuket – twice
MAI KHAO: AirAsia flight FD3024 from Phuket to Bangkok was forced to land twice shortly after takeoff at Phuket International Airport (PIA) yesterday evening.
A passenger on the flight told a Gazette source, “I heard the sound of wind rushing and then the engines roar [shortly after takeoff] and thought something had happened, but the crew didn’t tell the passengers exactly what was happening.”
After the initial takeoff, the plane landed back on the runway. After a short delay, the pilot attempted a second takeoff, only to be forced to land the aircraft again.
The source added that he later heard that the plane was forced to land because a door had not been sealed properly.
Aroonporn Sangduangyang, AirAsia’s duty executive at PIA, today told the Gazette, “The 6:15 pm flight from Phuket to Bangkok was forced to land twice yesterday. There was a technical problem, but the pilot was trying to get the passengers [to Bangkok] on time as our next flight was at 9:50 pm.”
K. Aroonporn explained that the aircraft’s flight system warns the pilot with an alarm if any doors are not sealed properly. In this instance, the pilot received no warning before takeoff that any doors had yet to be closed fully.
“It was not a serious situation,” she added.
However, K. Aroonporn declined to confirm whether a faulty door was the reason for the two landings.
“We transfered some passengers to our next flight at 9:50 pm, but some of them did not want to fly that late, so we transferred their tickets to fly with another airline,” K. Aroonporn said.
Flight FD3024 did eventually make it to Bangkok.
“If we are not 100% ready, we will not take off,” she added.
Phuket, Thailand
17:51 local time (GMT +7)
Non-specific link:
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6560
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