Phuket was added to Bangkok

[IMG=18213-3686]

The start of the Transaero Airline Company charter program for the Phuket Island is planned to be launched on November 30. According to IS BANKO data, Boing-767 will fly once in 10 days, and the chain of flights is to last till the end of March. The block owners of the flight are Lanta-Tur Voyage, Capital Tour, the Southern Cross Bureau, PAX and Aniko-Tour. It is the first program of this sort after tsunami 2004, and market operators fear that the risk is too high since even available transport to Bangkok is called superfluous (see BANKO news of October 22). Moreover, according to the experts in this region, the demand for Phuket has not yet become stable. ’Interest in the resort is 50 percent lower than it was last year,’ admits Dmitry Chichkanov, the Skyway Company Thailand manager.
   Meanwhile the block owners themselves believe that this step is quite reasonable. ‘The accommodation fund has been renewed, and the cultural entertainment zone has been restored in Phuket,’ says Lyudmila Tikhonenkova, the Lanta-Tur Voyage Vice-President. “Besides, we hope for delayed demand.” Alexander Abramov, the General Director of Aniko-Tour, adds: ‘The idea of this charter was formed long ago: travel agencies were expecting a chain of flights to Phuket. And not all our customers are happy about the frequency of flights to Bangkok.’ The optimism of the charter program participants is also based on the fact that the “land” prices have not changed since last year, while in the other regions the cost of hotel rooms usually go up before the start of the season. This factor, experts believe, could attract customers.
   Whether it was a good idea to resume flights to Phuket will be clear quite soon when the dynamics of winter tour booking will be outlined. Yet some experts believe that the program will have to be cut before it is launched.