DRAGONAIR is planning to add two additional weekly flights connecting Phuket and Hong Kong next year, bringing the total number of flights between the islands to nine per week.
An airline executive told Phuketwan that the expansion is being made to improve connections with other destinations through Cathay Pacific.
Dragonair is the regional wing of the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific airline.
The increase in flights is going ahead despite the dramatic drop of visitors to Thailand following the week-long closures of Bangkok's airports by anti-government protesters a month ago.
Added flights are expected to start in March, an airport spokeswoman said this afternoon.
The airline currently operates a daily scheduled service using Airbus 320-200 and A321-200 between the two islands with weekly total seat capacity to and from Phuket of more than 2300.
The route's load performance has been very encouraging, said a Dragonair spokeswoman.
Although the recent political unrest in Thailand may have caused some short-term impact on the route with cancellations, the airline remains confident about its long-term success here, she said.
Dragonair relaunched its operation between Phuket and Hong Kong with a daily scheduled service on December 15, 2006.
The airline first flew to Phuket in December 1986. The service was temporarily suspended in January 2005 due to the drastic drop of demand on the route after the tsunami hit the island in December 2004.
The increase in flights comes as news agency reports appear around the world, portraying the drop in tourism in terms of bar custom, first in Bangkok via Reuters, and now in an AFP report from Phuket.
''Located at the entrance of a huge bar complex in Patong Beach, Phuket's busiest tourist town, Sharky's should be standing room only. Instead, barely half the bar stools are occupied,'' says a new report from AFP that appeared in Singapore's Straits Times.
''Sunbathers still dot Phuket's sandy white beaches but in far fewer numbers than is usual at this time of year.''
Another report from Reuters also appeared in newspapers around the world over the past few days.
It quotes Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) boss Phornsiri Manoharn, who estimates the eight-day closure of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport by protesters will have caused one million foreign visitors to cancel or go elsewhere.
''This is the hardest hit we've ever encountered in the 48 years we've been promoting tourism to Thailand,'' she told Reuters, saying the airport shutdown put the December 2004 tsunami, bird flu and SARS in the shade.
An airline executive told Phuketwan that the expansion is being made to improve connections with other destinations through Cathay Pacific.
Dragonair is the regional wing of the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific airline.
The increase in flights is going ahead despite the dramatic drop of visitors to Thailand following the week-long closures of Bangkok's airports by anti-government protesters a month ago.
Added flights are expected to start in March, an airport spokeswoman said this afternoon.
The airline currently operates a daily scheduled service using Airbus 320-200 and A321-200 between the two islands with weekly total seat capacity to and from Phuket of more than 2300.
The route's load performance has been very encouraging, said a Dragonair spokeswoman.
Although the recent political unrest in Thailand may have caused some short-term impact on the route with cancellations, the airline remains confident about its long-term success here, she said.
Dragonair relaunched its operation between Phuket and Hong Kong with a daily scheduled service on December 15, 2006.
The airline first flew to Phuket in December 1986. The service was temporarily suspended in January 2005 due to the drastic drop of demand on the route after the tsunami hit the island in December 2004.
The increase in flights comes as news agency reports appear around the world, portraying the drop in tourism in terms of bar custom, first in Bangkok via Reuters, and now in an AFP report from Phuket.
''Located at the entrance of a huge bar complex in Patong Beach, Phuket's busiest tourist town, Sharky's should be standing room only. Instead, barely half the bar stools are occupied,'' says a new report from AFP that appeared in Singapore's Straits Times.
''Sunbathers still dot Phuket's sandy white beaches but in far fewer numbers than is usual at this time of year.''
Another report from Reuters also appeared in newspapers around the world over the past few days.
It quotes Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) boss Phornsiri Manoharn, who estimates the eight-day closure of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport by protesters will have caused one million foreign visitors to cancel or go elsewhere.
''This is the hardest hit we've ever encountered in the 48 years we've been promoting tourism to Thailand,'' she told Reuters, saying the airport shutdown put the December 2004 tsunami, bird flu and SARS in the shade.
Great! Escape from Phuket is now easier!
Posted by Rob C on December 29, 2008 15:30