Commenting on the launch of the new routes, the airline’s sales vice-president, Ariya Prasarttongosoth, stated that Chiang Mai was in a prime position to become the country’s northern gateway to the surrounding Mekong Region. She added that having a second hub in the northern Thai city would allow Bangkok Airways to take an integral role in expanding travel opportunities during the ASEAN integration in 2015.
The new Chiang Mai-Puket service runs once a day in each direction and utilises 162-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. Flights to Udon Thani are also daily in each direction and use 70-seat ATR72-500s.
Bangkok Airways' flights to the Myanmar cities also operate with ATR72-500s. Chiang Mai-Yangon flights are scheduled for Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Services to Mandalay operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Bangkok Airways starts routes out of Chiang Mai
News in AsiaBangkok Airways operated maiden flights on routes out of its new secondary hub in Chiang Mai earlier this week. The Thai carrier inaugurated flights to the domestic locations of Udon Thani and Phuket as well as Yangon and Mandalay in neighbouring Myanmar.