Sanuk sanuk, happy happy

[ncr]

Southern cities get air link - Bangkok Post

Writer: ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN
Published: 21/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

PHUKET : The major southern cities of Phuket and Hat Yai are receiving a new air link, offering an alternative to what is now a seven-hour bus journey. New airline Happy Air is poised to launch the Phuket-Hat Yai service on Oct 26. The travel time between the two locations will be 40 minutes. Happy Air sales and marketing manager Patcharapol Sonthipan said the airline had secured aviation permits from the Department of Aviation. He said Happy Air was positioning itself as a premium-service airline which was targetting tourists and business travellers. The airline also plans to fly to the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.

Mr Patcharapol said the air service would provide faster alternative for travellers travelling between Phuket and Hat Yai, the commercial district of Songkhla. Mr Patcharapol said the Phuket-based airline would operate two twin turboprop SAAB 340A aircraft, with 34 seats. The planes are leased from a Swedish company. Happy Air will offer daily flights between Phuket and Hat Yai and three times a week between Phuket and Langkawi. The Phuket-Langkawi flights will also begin in late October.

[ncr]

No website (apparently) and no Wikipedia entry for Happy Air yet.

[jpatokal]

Is there any real demand for either of these routes? My crystal ball says that this is unlikely to even get off the ground, and if it does, will stop flying within 6 months.

[waerth]

Well they throw a small plane at the problem, which is a good start.

The reason a number of routes didn't work out is because the companies throw A 320's at the problem instead of small planes.

I feel that a lot more routes in Thailand would be feasable if they would use the right plane at the route instead of plonking in an A320 or a B737 .....

I hope they succeed!

W

[jpatokal]

Brilliant website

http://www.happyairway.com/

I especially like the Careers page:

Accounted/Human Resource
-Bachelors Degree at Least
-Service Minded
-Understand English Wells

This article claims that they "launched" their first flight, but whether they're actually flying or not is anybody's guess -- the AOT website for Phuket certainly doesn't show any scheduled flights to Hat Yai.

http://phuketnews.phuketindex.com/tr...ai-171770.html

[ncr]

Brilliant website

http://www.happyairway.com/

Good find, Jani!

I want to be an Accounted!

Though I didn't understand why they require knowledge of English wells - I thought the company was about aviation, not hydrology.....

They also invented a whole new and silly spelling variant for amphoe (sometimes amphur), sure to dumbfound any foreigner:

Happy Air Travellers Co.,Ltd.
106/2 Moo.1 Airport Rd, Tumbon Sakoo Aumper Talang, Phuket 83110

Just hope their safety manuals aren't as garbled.......

Great logo, too: Fly the happy hat......

[Wisarut]

Now Aviation Dept asking AOT to accept the massive transfer of 26 rural airports into the jurisdiction of AOT since the Dept cannot take furthermore burden on these 26 airports

However, MOT sugguest commercial development aroung 30000 Rai of 26 airports which already have the price tags of 50 billion Baht to keep the viable before selling or transferring their personnels to AOT.
http://www.prachachat.net/view_news....day=2009-11-05

[Yappofloyd]

Happy seems to have a good earning niche with Hat Yai and Phuket and seem content with their one turboprop.

Happy ready for flights to Nakhon Si Thammarat BKK Post 7/06/2010
Happy Air, a new local carrier, will begin regular flights on Wednesday from its Phuket base to Nakhon Si Thammarat. The launch represents a new step in its quest for market opportunities after it suspended some routes over the past few months.

The privately owned airline, which operates just one leased Saab 340A turboprop with 34 seats, dropped its service between Phuket and Langkawi, one of its first routes, when it took to the skies last October, just after Songkran in April.

It also ended short trial services from Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport to Buri Ram and from Bangkok to Nan, also in April due to poor business. But its trunk route from Phuket to Hat Yai has continued unabated at four flights a week with a high 80% load factor, as it is the only player on the route.

Aside from the service from Phuket to Nakhon Si Thammarat, Happy Air plans to start a regular service between Phuket and Trang in October, said Phatcharapon Sontipun, sales and marketing manager. It also intends to resume Phuket-Langkawi service on June 26, with two flights a week on Saturday and Sunday serving entirely tourist traffic.

The one-way all-inclusive fare for Phuket-Nakhon Si Thammarat is 1,200 baht, while the Phuket-Langkawi flights will cost 3,200 baht one-way. The airline aims to expand its network in the future in southern Thailand, the area it knows best, said Mr Phatcharapon.

With the fallout from the country's recent political turmoil affecting air travel demand, he said the company had to tread more cautiously. The plan to acquire a second Saab plane is now on hold as all the routes currently planned could still be managed by the existing plane, he added.

[Yappofloyd]

Happy expanded to the north in 2011 and are now serving Mae Sot, Nan and Mae Hong Son albeit only 1-2 times a week for each destination. Seem to have withdrawn from the south aside from a BKK to Ranong flight.

http://www.happyair.co.th/timetable.aspx

[Yappofloyd]

With Ranong on the radar, Nok Air challenges Happy, BKK Post, 29 Mar 2013
Nok Air is spreading its wings to Ranong to face off with Happy Air, currently the sole airline serving the southern province bordering Myanmar and best known for its hot springs. The budget airline will introduce a daily flight from Bangkok's Don Mueang airport to Ranong on May 15, using a Saab 340 turboprop with 34 seats operated by Nok Mini, its smaller commuter airline.

If all goes well, a second daily flight will be added on Oct 1 using a larger 66-seat ATR-72 turboprop, a Nok Air executive told the Bangkok Post this week. The two-step strategy reflects a cautious approach to the market, which has yet to prove sustainable.

Thai AirAsia (TAA) terminated its scheduled Bangkok-Ranong service five years ago. "We're taking a similar approach as we did with Chumphon, which we began serving last Oct 1 on a daily basis, also with a small Saab 340 propeller aircraft," said the source.

Traffic potential on the Bangkok-Ranong route is not perceived as sufficient to justify using a jet such as Nok Air's mainstream B737-800, a single-aisle 189-seater. TAA has not developed a mixed fleet such as Nok Air's and in 2007 was plying the route with a 148-seat Boeing 737-300, whose capacity was soon deemed excessive for such a low-traffic destination.

Nok Air is offering all-inclusive one-way fares starting from 1,690 baht between Don Mueang and Ranong, undercutting Happy Air's first-tier fare of 2,500 baht. Happy Air, a commuter airline, operates daily flights to Ranong from Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi airport also using a Saab 340.

Leisure traffic is expected to predominate on the Ranong flights due to the popular local tourist attractions. The province is a gateway to the Andaman Sea and the destinations of Namtok Ngao National Park, Koh Chang _ not to be confused with the larger Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand near Cambodia _ and Myanmar's casino resort in Victoria Point, called Koh Song in Thai.