CHIANG RAI, 29 January 2019. When Thai AirAsia announced it would introduce direct flights to regional destinations from Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, starting 31 January, the town’s hospitality industry was over the moon.
Chiang Rai is the only Thai province to share borders with two neighbouring nations – Myanmar and Laos – as well being the closest to China via an overland route that passes through Laos to China’s Yunnan province.
But its so-called international airport has direct air links with just China; Kunming capital of Yunnan province, Shenzhen, Jing Hong, Hong Kong, plus a few seasonal charters (Chengdu).
Thai AirAsia’s decision to establish a hub in Chiang Rai appears to be a game changer for hotel and travel providers promising to boost international tourist arrivals, but there could also be a low-cost airline trap looming up ahead. If it’s not an instant success will AirAsia pull the plug?
The airline is promising direct flights to three regional gateways – Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau, plus a domestic air link with Phuket – due to start 31 January.
It will offer four weekly direct flights from Chiang Rai to Kuala Lumpur, three weekly each to Macau and Singapore and a three weekly service on the domestic route Chiang-Rai-Phuket.
At the time of the announcement Thai AirAsia CEO, Santisuk Klongchaiya commented: “Chiang Rai has both the capacity and potential for tourism growth with its distinct art and culture as well as beautiful natural scenery.”
Filling in some of the gaps on the airline’s commitment, Thai AirAsia’s director of sustainability and communications, Topaz Subunruk, said the “airline would station an aircraft at Chiang Rai’s airport and increase staff, including engineers, to handle 22 flights a day”.
But critics wonder if ThaiAirAsia is in this for the long haul, or is it just a seasonal project for reasons the airline is not sharing with the travel industry?
Pacific Asia Travel Association Chiang Rai chapter chairman, Jaffee Yee, welcomed the new direct service saying it would open new international markets for the province.
“This definitely a game changer for Chiang Rai … it will boost international visitors to the province and ultimately generate travel to Laos and Myanmar,” he said noting the PATA chapter would reach out to the travel trade in neighbouring Myanmar and Laos to promote two-way travel.
But so far there are nagging questions about how Thai AirAsia is going to promote the route and its long-term commitment.
Tour operators in Singapore, who are selling holiday packages to Thailand, told TTR Weekly they have so far “not received any communications on the new direct service from the airline”.
“I have learned about this direct connection from my supplier partner from Chiang Rai, other than that, did not hear much from authorities like TAT, or Thai Air Asia,” one agent commented asking not to be named.
Over 30 tour operators were contacted by TTR Weekly and the message was clear. The airline has not reached out to tour operators who have a clear track record promoting travel to Thailand out of Singapore.
Most travel agents concurred the direct flights, which will cut travel time in half, should boost travel to Chiang Rai, but they queried if there was enough traffic out of Chiang Rai bound for Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau to justify the service in the long run.
However, there is plenty of evidence to show that HK Express has been successful with its twice-weekly service to Chiang Rai, year-round, with most of the bookings coming from Hong Kong residents seeking a weekend holiday break.
Singaporean travel agents recognised Chiang Rai could also become a short-break holiday destination with a flight time of three hours and ultimately an alternative to popular destinations, Bali and Phuket.
But they noted the departure days Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were not ideal for long weekend breaks that would be more feasible if the flights departed Friday and returned Monday. Bali and Phuket are served by daily services.
Some Singaporean agents said they might consider flying their guests to Chiang Rai on the direct AirAsia flight and then offering a departure from Chiang Mai on a direct flight to Singapore (not AirAsia) for the return leg. This option would do away with roundtrip overland bus tours for guests who stay in Chiang Mai and visit Chiang Rai on day trips. They would visit the sights in Chiang Rai first and then board a one-way bus transfer to Chiang Mai possibly on four to five-day holidays.
But the biggest question remains just how committed is Thai AirAsia to make the four direct routes a success?
A check of all the flights for the four new services show the direct services are bookable until around 26 October.
Beyond that date, the booking engine does not offer any direct flights to the four destinations from Chiang Rai.
TTR Weekly attempted book flights early November for all four destinations and without exception bookings were not possible.
TTR Weekly filed three emails to the communications director asking for more details without success. After two emails seeking clarification on the potential role of travel agents and why bookings were not possible beyond the end of October the only response was a terse “looping the commercial PR team”. Looping has so far failed to generate a response.
