Stagnant Thai travel in the first quarter this year has led Bangkok Airways to slow plans to open new routes over the rest of the year, says chief executive and president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.
He said several new routes have been added in recent years and the airline will instead focus on improving efficiency and increasing frequency on existing routes, especially to Phu Quoc Island, a popular tourist destination in Vietnam.
The island is a destination preferred by millennials for beaches and fish sauce factory tours, Mr Puttipong said.
"Tourists have more interest in new destinations in neighbouring countries, namely Vietnam and Malaysia," he said. "Moreover, these countries have carried out many roadshows to attract new visitors."
He said air travel in Thailand is quite sluggish at the moment, noting a slowdown in inbound flights to Thailand in the first quarter this year. But the situation seems to have settled after the Easter holiday (April 21), when the number of Bangkok Airways passengers increased by 6% from the month before.
The airline reported a net profit of 511 million baht in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 209 million or 29% compared with the same period last year.
Total revenue was 7.78 billion baht, an increase of 0.5% compared with the first quarter of 2018, according to a financial statement from the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
First-quarter earnings per share also decreased from 0.34 in 2018 to 0.24 baht.
In 2018, Bangkok Airways had 5.8 million passengers. The airline projects to increase volume by around 3% to 6.18 million this year with revenue set for 3% growth from 27.9 billion baht last year.
The projection is set regardless of global economic instability caused by Brexit and the trade war between US and China, which could deter some European and Chinese passengers from taking overseas trips.
"Normally, nearly 60% of airlines' revenue is from aviation," Mr Puttipong said. "The rest is from catering services, ground handling, airport ramp operations, cargo terminal operation and airport management such as at Samui and Sukhothai airports."
However, the market in Indochina remains sound, driving the airline to increase flight frequency, such as operating up to 14 flights weekly on its Bangkok-Danang route and Bangkok-Mandalay route in the first quarter of 2019.
