No-frill finesse

Published on Dec 23, 2003

When people buy tickets on a budget airline, what should they realistically expect?

Not a nice fancy seat or a full-course meal or even a home-made puff pie, that�s for sure. But does anyone even care about that when the flight is over within an hour?

The point of flying is to arrive at one�s destination quickly and safely, isn�t it?

�Hopefully passengers won�t expect to be served a piece of steak on our flights,� says Orient Thai Airlines� chief executive, Udom Tantiprasongchai. �Even though we can�t afford to serve a full meal, we still offer passengers soft drinks and peanuts.�

Since Orient Thai launched its first domestic route from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on December 3 with the eye-catching promotional fare of Bt999, passengers have been praying that the price would last. But the party is over as of tomorrow, when Bt999 becomes Bt1,400.

�We couldn�t afford to maintain this promotional fare for too long, since there�s not much profit in it,� says the airline�s chairman, Kajit Habanananda. �My grandchildren probably wouldn�t have food to eat.�

Kajit says he doesn�t really like the �low-cost� label because operationally it isn�t true. The cost of purchasing 11 planes doesn�t go down, he points out, and the only area where costs can be shaved is in the way the carrier operates. Meal service, staffing levels and advertising costs are factors that can be trimmed. Kajit says Orient Thai has only about 270 staffers � just 1 per cent of the Thai Airways International payroll.

Aside from the numbers, another area for economy lies in how the staffers work. �They are no angels,� says Kajit. �They are all multi-purpose operatives who can do everything from checking in passengers to serving beverages to seating customers.�

He likes the term �low-fare airline� better than �low cost� because he feels that tells people they can expect bargain fares but that service quality will be maintained.

Passengers, predictably, have been enticed by the low fares, although some indicate teething troubles have been frustrating.

�I try to get an Orient Thai ticket flying from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, and then I have to get a connecting flight from Bangkok back to my hometown,� says passenger Jinjuree Somsiri from Satun. �I chose this new airline because it is a lot cheaper than Thai Airways, but it sucks that they don�t offer other routes, which isn�t very convenient.�

However, Jinjuree said that the fare was adequate compensation for the inconvenience and she didn�t expect much fancy service because of the savings. She was confused, though, by finding three Orient Thai counters in Chiang Mai International Airport and unsure where she should wait.

Australian Alicia Fitzpatrick, who was visiting Chiang Mai with her boyfriend, was happy with the low price of the tickets but disappointed at the long wait for check-in because the airline�s digital photo process was running slow.

Udom admits that there may have been some glitches, but said the staff was trying to learn from any mistakes and improve the system. The digital photo system had been less efficient than expected and the airline is looking for a solution.

In the past eight years, Udom says, the government-imposed advantage to THAI has been reduced and airlines such as Orient Thai can use Bangkok International Airport on a nearly equal footing � although he still feels that the airport exists mainly for the national carrier.

�The airport is big, but there still isn�t enough space for us. The boom in private airlines is very new for them, I guess,� he says.

With the increased choices, things have opened up for the travelling public and flying is no longer the exclusive province of the rich, says Udom. Those who have to count their baht can benefit from the new trends.

Even though competition among private airlines is still at the talking stage, things will change when AirAsia enters the scene early next year.

��We are prepared to go one step ahead of AirAsia and match its offerings both in terms of destinations and fares,� says Udom.

There is a price to be paid for being first in the field. In the second week of Orient Thai�s new service, the newspapers were full of stories about how one of the carrier�s planes had to return to Hong Kong soon after takeoff for Chiang Mai.

�There wasn�t any mechanical problem like some newspapers wrote,� says Kajit.

�This thing called an inspection panel just fell off, but it had nothing to do with the engine or the plane�s operation. That isn�t an accident, but it is something that can happen everyday with every airline�s planes. We didn�t even need an emergency landing at the Hong Kong International Airport,� says Kajit.

For next year, the airline is looking to increase its domestic service. Flights to northeastern provinces such as Khon Kaen, Ubon Rachathani and Udon Thani and southern provinces such as Phuket and Hat Yai are on the list. In addition to its present routes to Hong Kong and South Korea, the airline hopes to add flights to mainland China.

On the airline�s long-term survival, Kajit says, �I just want to ask Thais to give us an opportunity to prove that we, as Thais, can do it. All the money passengers pay to us will stay in Thailand. Our partners and staffers are all Thais.�

But Orient Thai is functioning in a rapidly changing environment. Already THAI is fighting back with deals such as its Royal E-Service Promotion, which discounts Bangkok-Chiang Mai fares by 10 per cent, lowering the rate to Bt1,953 until March 31.

�I believe time will prove whether we can do it or not, and also passengers,� says Udom. �However we have three stunning weapons in the battle to keep our passengers happy. We have got smiles, �Sawasdee� and �Thank you�. These are things that cost nothing, but give priceless benefits.�

Tatpachuen Thaiprasithiporn

The Nation

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