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Thai AirAsia talks expansion 
Thai AirAsia talks expansion
There appears to be no finishing
line for Thai AirAsia as plans expansion in China.
Thai AirAsia
is planning to new services to Hangzhou, China, this December and may
fly to India next year.
Thai AirAsia CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld,
confirmed, last week, the airline had filed an application to fly to
Hangzhou, to tap airport incentives for the airline that operate direct
flight from Bangkok.
He said a service to Hangzhou had strong
potential for two-way traffic, due a steady economic growth in the city
and province, and a demand in the Thai outbound travel market.
Mr
Tassapon made the comments during the Retrieving Thai Tourism Industry -
The National Agenda seminar, held at the Swissotel Le Concorde,
Bangkok.
In addition, Mr Tassapon said, he has also scheduled a
meeting with Chendu authorities next month, to discuss the possibility
for AirAsia to operate the service to Chendu in China’s Sichuan
province.
Mr Tassapon affirmed that Thai AirAsia would continue
to open new markets, and by next year, the airline was planning a
service to India.
Low-cost airlines appear to have increased
market share during the current economic crisis. Booking trends show web
related bookings have expanded 35% in the first quarter of 2009. In
contrast, traditional distribution channel bookings, mainly on
full-service airlines booked through travel agencies declined 15%,
according to Amadeus Asia Pacific's evaluations.
The increase in
web bookings could be attributed to a shift to low-cost airlines, as
travellers cut their budgets.
Besides the expansion of its
network, the airline will continue its sponsorship of different events
that could boost awareness such as football and music fan clubs.
“We’ve
gained awareness from our sponsorship in the English Premier League,
and will support Formula 1, and possibly a major baseball league in
Japan or the Super Bowl in the US.â
Air Asia is a big supporter
of the English champions Manchester United.
On distribution, Mr
Tassapon claims over 80% of the airline’s bookings are now through the
internet. He gave no details of where the remaining 20% of the bookings
were sourced.Source: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/index.php?id=138&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1...
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