Bangkok Airways projects 20% growth this year in passenger revenue as demand revives and the company adjusts its pricing strategy, with forward bookings robust for Songkran and the second quarter.
Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of the airline, said the Thai aviation industry has improved from last year, prompting Bangkok Airways to set a target of 4.5 million passengers and an average 85% load factor, generating 17.8 billion baht in revenue.
Last year the airline recorded 14.9 billion baht in revenue and nearly 4 million passengers.
He said nearly 40% of revenue is projected from the European market, followed by 31.5% from the Thai and Southeast Asian market, with 10% from China, Japan and South Korea.
Bangkok Airways has networks extending to 12 domestic destinations and eight international locations.
Its most recent routes, Samui-Chongqing and Samui-Chengdu, fully resumed with 2-3 flights per week, catering to demand from inbound Chinese.
The airline does not plan to open another new route until it can secure a lease agreement for two more Airbus A319 jets, helping it grow this fleet type to 25 by the end of this year, said Mr Puttipong.
For the second quarter, bookings are quite strong with a load factor of 60-70% in April, bolstered by the Songkran holiday, he said.
Forward bookings for the airline through the second quarter improved by 14% compared with the same period last year, said Mr Puttipong.
Anawat Leelawatwatana, senior vice-president for finance and accounting, said although the margin from flight operations improved last year, it only tallied 0.27 baht per available kilometre for an average ticket price of 3,900 baht per seat.
This year the major expenses remain fuel and aircraft maintenance, which affect the entire industry, said Mr Anawat.
Last year the industry was hampered by war and geopolitical tension, which affected the number of European passengers, he said.
If the level of tension is reduced from last year, Bangkok Airways should gain more passengers, said Mr Anawat.
He said while development of the high-speed railway at U-tapao airport is delayed, this should not disrupt Bangkok Airways' investment in its airport project in the area.