Bangkok Airways set to gain altitude
Net profit projected to jump 41% this year
Bangkok Airways expects to see further improvement in its balance sheet this year, with considerable increases in profitability, revenue and passenger numbers driven by a better business environment and its resumption of growth plan.
Bangkok Airways president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth (third from left) and staff at the official launch of subcontinent services.
This year, the privately owned carrier expects a 40.9% jump in net profit to 892 million baht, a 27% rise in passenger revenue to 10.5 billion baht and a 19% increase in passenger traffic to 2.6 million.
President Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth yesterday outlined the 43-year-old airline's financial outlook as the company finished 2010 with a major turnaround from 2009 when it was hit by an industry downturn,
The carrier last year recorded a net profit of 633 million baht, a reversal from a 460-million-baht loss it suffered in 2009.
Passenger revenue for 2010 increased to 8.2 billion baht from 6.5 billion baht in 2009, while passenger volume rose to 2.6 million, up from 2.5 million a year earlier.
"2011 will be a productive year for us, a result of our business rehabilitation in the past two years which enable us to move ahead again," Capt Puttipong said.
After years of limited expansion, the carrier, which brands itself as "Asia's boutique airline", is resuming its growth plan this year. It plans to make a foray into India and Bangladesh, expand its fleet and increase frequencies on its existing network.
The airline on March 2 will launch the Bangkok-Mumbai service and on March 27 start Bangkok-Dhaka, with six flights a week and seven a week respectively, on Airbus A319 and A320 jetliners.
An additional new Airbus A319 will join the airline's fleet by the end of this year and another A319 is due for delivery next year.
Its current fleet consists of 17 aircraft - eight ATR turboprops, three A320s and six A319s.
Capt Puttipong is upbeat about the prospect of its subcontinent flight launch despite its late entry.
"We are confident of achieving a 60% overall load factor for both routes. Mumbai and Dhaka are large financial centres, with some 700,000 Indian nationals flying to Thailand in 2010 and over 60,000 passengers from Dhaka. A 15-20% increase on these numbers is expected this year."
Bangkok Airways will offer competitive fares to ensure early success for the subcontinent service launch, with all-in round-trip promotional fares starting from slightly over 9,000 baht for the Bangkok-Mumbai route.
Overall flight frequencies in 2011 will be increased to 20%, thanks to the additional capacity available from the new A319.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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