Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited ( th, บางกอกแอร์เวย์ส) is a
regional airline based in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Thailand. It operates scheduled services to destinations in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. Its main base is
Suvarnabhumi Airport.
History
The airline was established in 1968 as Sahakol Air, operating
air taxi
An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand.
In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...
services under contract from the Overseas International Construction Company (OICC), an American construction company, the United States Operations Mission (USOM), and a number of other organisations engaged in oil and natural gas exploration in the
Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
. It began scheduled services in 1986, becoming Thailand's first privately owned domestic airline. It rebranded to become Bangkok Airways in 1989. The airline is owned by
Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth
Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth ( th, ปราเสริฐ ปราสาททองโอสถ, born 22 March 1933) is a Thai billionaire businessman of Chinese descent, former surgeon, and the founder and owner of Bangkok Dusit Medical Servi ...
(92.31 percent), Sahakol Estate (4.3 percent),
Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (1.2 percent), and other shareholders (2.19 percent). At one point, it also wholly owned subsidiary airline
Siem Reap Airways in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
.
It built its own airport on
Ko Samui
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...
, which opened in April 1989 and offers direct flights between the island and
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
Krabi
Krabi ( th, กระบี่, ) is the main town in the province of Krabi (''thesaban mueang'') on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phang Nga Bay. As of 2020, the town had a population of ...
,
Pattaya
Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...
,
Phuket
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. The airline opened its second airport in
Sukhothai Province in 1996. A third airport was built in
Trat Province, opening in March 2003 to serve the tourism destination of
Ko Chang.
The airline made its first foray into jet aircraft in 2000, when it started adding
Boeing 717
The Boeing 717 is an American five-abreast single-aisle airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The twin-engine airliner was developed for the 100-seat market and originally marketed by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95. It was a shor ...
s to its fleet. Until that time, Bangkok Airways had flown propeller-driven aircraft, primarily the
ATR 72
The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
. It had also operated the
De Havilland Canada Dash 8
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
, the
Shorts 330
The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...
and for a short time a
Fokker 100
The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands.
The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85.
It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...
. The carrier added another jet, the
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
, to its fleet in 2004.
Bangkok Airways planned to order wide-body aircraft as part of its ambition to expand its fleet but these plans to expand to the long haul market eventually fell short. It wanted to add its first wide-body jets in 2006 to serve longer-haul destinations such as the UK, India, and Japan and is looking at
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
,
Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...
and
Boeing 787
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
aircraft. In December 2005, Bangkok Airways announced it had decided to negotiate an order for six
Airbus A350-800
The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body aircraft, wide-body twinjet, twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Airbus.
The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to ...
aircraft in a 258-seat configuration, to be delivered to the airline commencing 2013 but the order of the aircraft was cancelled in 2011 due to the further delay of the Airbus plane.
In 2007, Royal Household Secretary General Kaewkwan Watcharoethai awarded Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth a
royal warrant to display the
Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...
emblem.
In 2017, Bangkok Airways received a new Air Operator Certificate, recertified to safety standards set out by ICAO from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.
Financials
For the
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
ending 31 December 2019, Bangkok Airways reported a profit of 351 million
baht
The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...
on revenues of 29,418 million baht. Its assets were valued at 61,908 million baht.
BA lost 300 million baht during the first quarter of 2020, compared with a profit of 500 million baht a year earlier. Earnings have continued to decline due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and the airline has asked for government assistance.
As of 31 December 2019, BA employed 3,010 persons.
Destinations
, Bangkok Airways operates or has operated the following destinations:
Codeshare agreements
As of 31 December 2019, Bangkok Airways had
codeshare agreement
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
s with 27 airlines.
*
Aeroflot
PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
*
Air Astana
Air Astana ( kk, Эйр Астана, translit=Eir Astana; russian: Эйр Астана́, translit=) is an airline group based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services on 64 routes from its main hub, Alma ...
*
British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
*
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
*
China Airlines
China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (in ...
*
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...
*
Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
*
Etihad Airways
*
EVA Air
EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated carg ...
*
Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia is the flag carrier of Indonesia, headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport. A successor of KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, it is a member of SkyTeam and the second-largest airline of Indonesia after Lion Air, operat ...
*
Japan Airlines
, also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...
*
Lao Airlines
Lao Airlines State Enterprise
."
Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...
*
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. ( PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and i ...
*
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
*
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
*
Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, trading as THAI (, th, บริษัท การบินไทย จำกัด (มหาชน)) is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961, the airline has its corporate h ...
*
Vietnam Airlines
*
Xiamen Airlines
XiamenAir, also known as Xiamen Airlines, is a Chinese passenger airline based in Xiamen, Fujian Province. The airline operates scheduled passenger flights out of Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport and, to a lesser extent, Beijing Daxing Interna ...
Fleet
Current fleet
, Bangkok Airways operates the following aircraft:
Retired fleet
Airports owned
Bangkok Airways owns and operates three airports:
*
Samui Airport
Samui International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานสมุย) , also known as Ko Samui Airport or Koh Samui Airport, is a privately owned airport on the island of Ko Samui (Koh Samui) in Thailand. The airport is roughly 2&nbs ...
(25 April 1989 – present)
*
Sukhothai Airport
Sukhothai Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานสุโขทัย) is a privately owned airport serving Sukhothai Province, Northern Thailand.
Airline and destination
External links
*
*
*
{{authority control
Airports i ...
(12 April 1996 – present)
*
Trat Airport
Trat Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานตราด), is an airport in Trat, Thailand. Trat Airport was opened in 2003 and is operated by Bangkok Airways
Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited ( th, บางกอกแอร ...
(8 April 2003 – present)
Incidents and accidents
* On 7 December 1987, a Sahakol Air
Hawker Siddeley HS 748
The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley ...
Series 2A (registration HS-THH), was damaged beyond repair after it overran the runway on landing at
Udon Thani Airport
: ''For the United States use of the facility during the Vietnam War see Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base''
Udon Thani International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานอุดรธานี) is an international airport near the ci ...
with no fatalities.
* On 21 November 1990, a
de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 operating as
Bangkok Airways Flight 125
Bangkok Airways Flight 125 was a scheduled domestic flight from Don Mueang International Airport to Koh Samui Airport. On 21 November 1990 the Dash 8-100 operating the flight crashed on approach to Koh Samui Airport during bad weather, southw ...
crashed on
Koh Samui
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...
while attempting to land in heavy rain and high winds. All 38 people on board perished.
* In August 2002 an
ATR 72-200
The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed b ...
skidded off the runway while landing at
Siem Reap International Airport
Siem Reap International Airport ( km, អាកាសយានដ្ឋានអន្តរជាតិសៀមរាប; french: Aéroport international de Siem Reap) is an international airport serving Siem Reap, a popular tourist destin ...
. There were no injuries. The airport was closed for two days.
* On 4 August 2009,
Bangkok Airways Flight 266
Bangkok Airways Flight 266 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Krabi International Airport, Krabi Airport to Samui Airport, Thailand. On 4 August 2009, the aircraft skidded off the runway on landing and crashed into an old and unmanne ...
, operated by an
ATR 72
The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
between Krabi and
Koh Samui
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...
, skidded off the runway, killing one of the pilots. The 68 passengers were evacuated. Of the passengers evacuated, six sustained serious injuries while another four were treated for minor injuries.
Sponsorship
Bangkok Airways is currently an official sponsor of
Chiangrai United,
Sukhothai FC,
Chiang Mai FC
Chiang Mai Football Club ( Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดเชียงใหม่), formerly known as Chiang Mai United F.C., is a Thai professional football club based in Chiang Mai province, a province located ...
,
Trat FC,
Lampang FC
Lampang Football Club ( Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดลำปาง) is a Thai professional association football club based in Lampang Province. The club plays in Thai League 1.
Timeline
History of events of Lam ...
,
Krabi FC,
Kasetsart FC,
Bangkok Christian College FC and
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
.
[Bangkok Airways is the sponsor of Borussia Dortmund]
Siamsport on 27 March 2018
References
External links
Official websiteBangkok Airways Fleet
{{Authority control
Airlines of Thailand
Airlines established in 1968
Companies based in Bangkok
Thai brands
Thai Royal Warrant holders
1968 establishments in Thailand
Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand