Air route between Bhutan and Thailand gets more competitive

BANGKOK - This was a rather discreet entry into competition. A month ago, an Airbus A320 started to fly the increasingly popular Bangkok-Paro (Bhutan) route. The new player is named Bhutan Airlines, a subsidiary of regional Bhutanese carrier Tashi Air, which is better known for its domestic connections. Until last month, the only carrier flying between Bangkok and Bhutan was the country’s national carrier Drukair, which inaugurated the route back to 1989. Today Drukair offers a daily flight, putting in service an Airbus A319.

According to Tashi Air commercial director, Ugyen Tenzin to local Bhutanese media, Bhutan Airlines will offer fares slightly cheaper than the ones from Drukair, offering a possible discount of 10 to 15%. Limited promotional fares will also be available. The flight will make a stop-over at Kolkata Airport and is offered on a daily basis. In 2012, Bangkok-Paro was Bhutan most popular route for international travellers, with over close to 37,000 passengers flying in and out of Bhutan.
 
Bhutan has been more popular among Thai travellers following the visit of the Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan to Thailand back to 2006. The young King was almost treated like a movie star by Thai media. Another factor is the increasing popularity of Buddhist religious tourism.

High prices – a minimum of US$ 200 to US$ 250 is charge daily for tourists wishing to visit the Himalayan Kingdom- remain however deterrent for many Thai potential visitors. Thailand can then be considered as a niche market, despite growing tourist figures: from 105,407 foreign travellers (including regional visitors from India) recorded in Bhutan in 2012 (up by 65% over 2011), Thailand total arrivals grew by 60% to reach 3,572 visitors. Thailand is Bhutan’s fourth largest inbound market by air behind Japan (6,967 travellers), the USA (6, 007 travellers ) and China (3,766 travellers).

Sourced: TravelDailyNews