AVIATION / COMMUTER OPERATOR EXPANDS

SGA looks for niche in flying to smaller airports

BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

Having recently upgraded itself from a charter provider to an airline with scheduled flights, SGA Airlines is looking at flying to all of Thailand's small airports not served by larger airlines.

The country's first commuter carrier is establishing an operating alliance with the no-frills airline Nok Air, owned partly by Thai Airways International, to offer an integrated network that allows both airlines to feed passengers to each other.

It means that SGA will offer flights from larger airports served by Nok Air to small and remote airfields in locations not well served by roads.

''We hope to operate alongside Nok Air to wherever it flies to,'' said Jain Charnnarong, president of Siam General Aviation Co (SGA).

''Both of us will complement each other. Nok Air operates trunk routes while SGA offers connections to small towns where large airlines find it impossible to operate to,'' he explained.

He said the two companies would soon set up a code-share agreement as part of the wider co-operation plan including co-branding, though he denied that there had been talk about Nok Air acquiring shares in SGA.

SGA's flight timetables have been synchronised with those of Nok Air to ensure minimum connection times, while SGA aircraft now carry in Nok Air's bird livery.

SGA on Feb 1 launched its second and third routes, Chiang Mai-Phrae and Chiang Mai-Pai, in addition to Bangkok-Hua Hin, which the airline has been offering for two years. It offers one flight a day on the two new routes, adding to the three daily flights on the Hua Hin sector.

SGA plans to launch its fourth route, Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai, on April 1, and will explore other opportunities in the northern region, said Dr Jain.

SGA operates two Cessna 208B Grand Caravan propeller planes, each capable of carrying 12 passengers for 1,600 km at a cruising speed of 340 km/hour.

SGA plans to add a third aircraft of a similar model, valued at around $2 million, in November to support its growing network.

While initial network expansion would be in the northern region, SGA would soon move to southern Thailand to tap traffic potential, he said.

The majority of SGA's passengers are expected to be local people, both tourists and business travellers. To ensure viability, the airline needs to fill 55-60% of the seats on each flight.

The all-inclusive one-way introductory fare for Chiang Mai-Pai, which takes about 20 minutes, is 1,450 baht, and 1,600 baht for Chiang Mai-Phrae (around 30 minutes). The fare for the planned Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai route will be around 1,900 baht.

Established in 2001, SGA received a permit to non-scheduled flights in October 2002 before being licensed to offer scheduled flights in August last year.

Bangkok Post
Sunday February 11, 2007