First foreign airline at Udon Thani

[BlueDragon]

bluedragon88
Registered User
Posts: 48
(6/19/06 1:06 pm)
Reply | Edit New Post First foreign airline at Udon Thani Quote from BangkokPost, Business News dated 16 Jun 2006

Tiger Airways flies in from Singapore July 1

BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

Udon Thani airport will be linked with the world outside of Thailand on July 1 for the first time since its transformation from a front-line facility of the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.

Tiger Airways, the budget carrier affiliated with Singapore Airlines, will make history in becoming the first airline to fly scheduled commercial flights directly from outside Thailand to Udon Thani airport.

The airline has received a green light from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to operate three direct flights a week from Singapore to Udon Thani, with 180-seat twin-jet A320 aircraft, Udon Thani airport director Rewat Panmongkol confirmed yesterday.

The first civilian flights from outside Thailand to touch down at the state-run Udon Thani airport were aircraft chartered to carry Thai workers home from Taiwan around the year 2000.

Only three Thai airlines _ Thai Airways International, Nok Air and Thai AirAsia _ operate to and from Udon Thani airport, three kilometres northeast of Udon Thani town.

Each of them offers three flights a day from Bangkok to Udon. In addition, Nok Air flies ATR-72 propeller craft from Udon to Chiang Mai, and from Udon to Loei, on Friday and Sunday, with one flight on each operating day.

Tiger Airways decided to launch its Singapore-Udon Thani service, which will take two hours, after seeing the leisure and business traffic potential of the route.

Mr Rewat said Singaporean and other foreign investment was increasing in the region, as well as in neighbouring Laos, which would create more demand for business travel to the area.

Also, a great number of northeastern Thai employees work in Singapore and need to travel between home and work.

However, Tiger will evaluate the market potential over three months, from July 1 to Oct 28, after which it will determine the economic viability of the route.

The province's public and private sectors view Tiger's move to fly to Udon Thani as supporting their long-held ambition to make the home of the Ban Chiang Unesco World Heritage site the region's aviation centre, as well as spurring tourism and commerce in the area.

According to Tiger officials, Singapore-Udon Thani flights would be scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

A single fare will range from 3,000 baht for early bookings, to 9,500 baht for late bookings, inclusive of fuel surcharges, taxes and insurance.

Local authorities are working to install customs and immigration services at Udon Thani airport ready to receive the first international flights.

Like many former US air bases in Thailand built during the Vietnam War era, Udon Thani has been underutilised, despite its superb quality and capability _ it can accommodate 747 jumbo jets.

Udon Thani airport's runway is 3,048 metres in length and its new 10,000-sq-m terminal can process 1,000 arriving and departing passengers per hour.

Meanwhile, from July 1, Tiger will add another two flights per week between Singapore and Phuket, increasing the frequency from seven flights to nine flights.

Udon Thani will be Tiger's sixth destination in Thailand after Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Krabi and Phuket.

Unquote.

Hope to make the trip to Udon Thani and Khon Kaen again
if the flight does take off.

Cheers

BahNoo
ezOP
Posts: 1071
(7/26/06 2:51 am)
Reply New Post Re: First foreign airline at Udon Thani welcome back bluedragon hehehe how is life? still going to bkk :lol

HuaNgoo2
Moderator
Posts: 120
(7/27/06 5:34 pm)
Reply
New Post Re: First foreign airline at Udon Thani Read update that it has been postponed! >:

bluedragon88
Registered User
Posts: 49
(8/1/06 10:51 pm)
Reply | Edit New Post Re: First foreign airline at Udon Thani Fine and yes.

The delay by the airport official was they forgotten to built a counter for the Health Ministry.
Anyway, the saying is .....TIT.

[BlueDragon]

Understand from another UT forum, the official assure that the first flight will be on the 15th August.
Also the one way fare at 1,200 bahts.

Cheers

[sawadee]

Hi Bro Bluedragon

Thanks for moving the thread. was planning to move it in later. anyway thanks for the help

Cheers
Bahnoo aka PM72

[BlueDragon]

Hi Bahnoo aka PM72,

You are welcome.
Suggest not to move those outdated FR which might not be useful anymore.

Chokdee

[BlueDragon]

TIT local news.

Recently, the Governor inspect the UT airport and held meeting with all the dept head to discuss the airport delay. During the news conference he mention the airport will be ready soon to receipt Tiger Airways flight, when press for definite date he said will be around New Year.
Do note, he did not said which year.

Will keep you guys posted once there is a confirm news from TA.

[bahnoo]

bluedragon said:

Hi Bahnoo aka PM72,

You are welcome.
Suggest not to move those outdated FR which might not be useful anymore.

Chokdee

i will just move it as archieve.

[kwanteen]

bahnoo said:

bluedragon said:

Hi Bahnoo aka PM72,

You are welcome.
Suggest not to move those outdated FR which might not be useful anymore.

Chokdee

i will just move it as archieve.

should be archives.... ;D

[BlueDragon]

Another latest news in the Bangkokpost.

BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

Udon Thani airport is ready to receive its first international flights now that it has put in place an online passenger screening system.

The Immigration Bureau's delay in installing the system, to identify known terrorists, drug traffickers and criminals, had forced Tiger Airways to put off the launch of Singapore-Udon Thani flights beyond its schedule of July 1.

The province had set a side a special budget of 200,000 baht for the Bureau to install the system, to overcome the constraints that otherwise would have prevented the airport from receiving passengers from direct international flights.

The Bureau has agreed to the use of a system adopted by Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board until the US government system is available later this year.

''We are ready to welcome direct international flights to the province,'' Udon Thani airport director Rewat Panmongkol confirmed yesterday.

The northeastern province has been eager to link directly to international air travel through scheduled commercial flights to give its economy and tourism a boost.

Only three Thai airlines _ Thai Airways International, Nok Air and Thai AirAsia _ currently operate domestic flights to and from Udon Thani airport.

Tiger Airways, the budget carrier affiliated with Singapore Airlines, has yet to set a new launch date for three direct flights a week from Singapore to Udon Thani, on 180-seat twin-jet A320 aircraft.

Although Tiger Airways had previously indicated that it could start the service in January next year, Mr Rewat expected it to commence earlier with the knowledge that the facilities at Udon Thani airport were ready.

Meanwhile, it is now confirmed that SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, will begin five charter flights directly from Singapore to Udon Thani on board A320s, also with 180 seats, in December this year.

Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation, which owns and runs the Udon Thani airport, formerly a US Air Force base during the Vietnam War, has given SilkAir a green light to fly to Udon Thani.Mr Rewat said authorities were considering the possibility of reducing landing and navigation fees to further encourage Tiger Airways to fly to Udon Thani.

Meanwhile, provincial authorities will soon propose to Thai AirAsia, the low-cost carrier, that some of its Bangkok-Hanoi flights, now twice a day, stop over at Udon Thani, to provide another international air link for the province.

''We would like to see Thai AirAsia make stop-overs on weekends,'' said the Udon Thani airport chief, noting that traffic potential on the route included Vietnamese tourists and Thais of Vietnamese origin living in Thailand's northeastern region.

[bahnoo]

woo this is a good news now we have another place to go lol

The Jewels of East lol

[BlueDragon]

Finally, Tiger Airways will be flying to Udon Thani from 9 Jan'07 till 24 Mar'07 on every Tues, Thurs and Sat and depart S'pore at 6.05am and return at 8.20am. The one way promotion fare of S$8.88 from 20/10 to 29/10.

Silkair is also promoting a special chartered flight for the month of December to Bangkok and Udon Thani.

Sanuk