BANGKOK, 1 June 2018: Bangkok Airways and Lao Airlines concluded a new codeshare deal, earlier this month, on routes between the two countries.
It allows Lao Airlines to ticket passengers on Bangkok Airways’ flights on the Bangkok-Vientiane and Bangkok-Luang Prabang routes.
Bangkok Airways’ flights on these two routes will appear as a booking options when passengers check the Lao Airlines’ website, or its flight schedules, but with a QV four digit flight designator.
In return, Bangkok Airways gains access to Lao Airlines’ routes Vientiane-Bangkok, Luang Prabang-Bangkok, Pakse-Bangkok and Luang Prabang-Chiang Mai.
It will ticket passengers on Lao Airlines services using a PG four digit designator.
How will it benefit passengers? Passengers gain more flight options and they can book travel to a third destination served by the codeshare partner airline more conveniently. They will gain a through fare rather than buying two point-to-point fares. The partner airlines invariably synchronize their timetables to allow convenient connections.
For airlines the main benefit is the apparent increase in frequencies on a route. It allows the airline to market and sell the additional flights without a major investment.
In the case of the Lao Airlines and Bangkok Airways both airlines serve the Bangkok-Vientiane and Bangkok-Luang Prabang routes, but not Pakse-Bangkok or Chiang Mai –Luang Prabang that are served exclusively by Lao Airlines.
However, Lao Airline stands to gain passengers who travel to Chiang Mai on Bangkok Airways. They can be ticketed through to Luang Prabang on the Laos Airlines flight to extend their holiday travels to Laos.
Codeshare agreements typically allow two or more airlines share the same flight. Each airline publishes and markets the flight under its own airline designator and flight number as part of its published timetable or schedule.
It can also include commercial agreements that provide the codeshare partner with an allotment of seats, net fares, or a more flexible free sales pact.
