BANGKOK, 26 February 2019: Thai AirAsia says it will add new routes linking Thailand to destinations in Vietnam, as it seeks to increase its market share in the Mekong Region*.
Its latest promotion supports the launch of a service from Chiang Mai in North Thailand to Danang in central Vietnam with fares starting at THB1,090** one way.
It’s the third Thai-Vietnam service set for a launch this year along with flights from Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to Can Tho and to Nha Trang.
Thai AirAsia director of commercial Nattinee Tawanchulee said the CLMV (Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Vietnam) markets are strategically important due to high tourism, economic, trade and investment potential.
In 2018, Thai AirAsia served 2.2 million passengers in the Mekong Region, accounting for 10% of all its passengers served and up 12% from 2017.
On routes to Vietnam, the airline handled 760,000 passengers to and from Vietnam in 2018, up 24% from 2017 with an average load factor of 87%.
“We will be focusing on the CLMV markets in 2019, especially Vietnam where we have already announced the launch of three new routes this year such as Bangkok to Can Tho, Bangkok to Nha Trang and from our Chiang Mai flight base to Danang.
“The Danang flight will start 12 April as we are looking to attract Vietnamese travellers to Thailand during the Songkran holiday,” said Nattinee.
The THB1,090* one-way fare is bookable until 10 March at airasia.com and via all ticketing channels for travel from 12 April to 26 October.
The route affirms Thai AirAsia’s strategy to establish connections to its regional flight bases and follows Chiang Mai-Hanoi route, which started in 2018 and has maintained a load factor average of 88% and prompted calls for more connections.
In the Vietnamese market overall, AirAsia maintains the most capacity between Thailand and Vietnam, serving 19% of all passengers between the two countries with an average load factor across all its routes of 87%.
According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 15.4 million foreign visitors travelled to the country in 2018, up 19.9% from 12.9 million in 2017, with over 12 million from other Asian countries.
A total of 349,000 Thai people travelled to Vietnam last year, up 15.9% from 300,000 in 2017. In sixth place Thai visitors followed the top five supply markets China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.
This year, AirAsia will add three new routes to Vietnam, namely; Bangkok-Can Tho (three flights weekly) starting 2 May, Bangkok-Nha Trang (four weekly) stating 1 May and Chiang Mai-Danang (daily).
Thai AirAsia flies to Vietnam from Bangkok (Don Mueang) and Chiang Mai, serving five destinations on six routes; Bangkok-Hanoi (two daily), Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh (three daily), Bangkok-Danang (three daily), Bangkok-Can Tho (three weekly), Bangkok-Nha Trang (four weekly) and Chiang Mai-Hanoi (daily).
* Mekong Region: Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guang Xi provinces, Laos, Myanmar Thailand and Vietnam.
** Excludes taxes and fees
