CHIANG RAI, 5 April 2019: Thai AirAsia strengthens its Chiang Rai flight hub with a direct route to China effective 30 April.
The new daily direct flight from Chiang Rai to Shenzhen is being promoted this week with fares as low as THB 735 one-way.
Bookings opened 3 April and the promotional fare remains in the system until 14 April for travel from 30 April to 15 June.
Thai AirAsia CEO, Santisuk Klongchaiya, said the airline is developing Chiang Rai as its seventh flight base after bringing a variety of domestic and international routes to the province earlier this year.
However, this is the first direct flight offered by the low cost airline from Chiang Rai to mainland China. Earlier in the year it introduced a direct service to Macau from Chiang Rai.
The airline says it is confident that the flight will attract tourists from Shenzhen during the low-season months.
Boosting seat sales on direct flights from Chiang Rai to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau becomes a daunting task as the province smothers under the worst smog crisis in decades.
Compounded with the annual decline in travel during the low-season months, the smog crisis could be the straw that broke the camel’s back for the airline’s Chiang Rai hub aspirations.
Another query focuses on why the airline started the flights at the end of the peak season and not the beginning.
PATA Chapter Chiang Rai chairman, Jaffee Yee, believes the low-cost airline should have launched the services at the start of the high season in October to give the three international flights enough momentum to build seat sales during the low season months.
A check of the airline website indicates that the direct Chiang Rai-Singapore flight cannot be booked after 30 October. Travellers are given a connecting flight option via Bangkok with a travel time exceeding six hours. The current direct flight between the two destinations takes just over three hours.
If the direc flight ends due to low demand critics might point out that it was not possible to make bookings for the two peak months November and December.
Thai AirAsia operates four international routes from Chiang Rai; Chiang Rai-Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Rai-Singapore, Chiang Rai-Macau and now Chiang Rai-Shenzhen.
