Bangkok Airways soars to new heights with strong growth in 2024
Bangkok Airways President and CEO, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, hopes 2025 will be another great year for business
Thailand regional premium carrier, Bangkok Airways, enjoyed a strong year in 2024 as the airline reaped the benefits of a boom in tourist arrivals, particularly from European markets. The airline’s CEO spoke with ITB Berlin News about its recovery and growth.
Long-standing ITB Berlin exhibitor, Bangkok Airways is very pleased with the outcome of 2024 for its activities. “Last year, we recorded 4.3 million passengers, up 9.2% over 2023. We have fully turned the corner from the pandemic years. We are expanding again by resuming some of the destinations that we served prior to Covid,” explained Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.
The carrier is once again profitable. Last year it reported a net profit of almost 107 million euros, an increase of 22% from 2023. Total revenue rose by 19.8%.
“Bangkok Airways benefited from the jump in tourist arrivals from Europe,” said Mr Prasarttong-Osoth. Last year, direct sales in Europe accounted for around 17% of all passenger volume. Bangkok Airways traffic was also fueled by passengers in transfer on codeshare flights. “It is an essential market segment for us. We are adding new airline partners on codeshare agreements, the latest ones being British Airways and Air India. We now have about 30 codeshare agreements, up from 26 or 27 a few years ago. Not to mention some 70 interline agreements,” explained the Bangkok Airways CEO.
2025 will be a year of expansion for the airline. It is slowly reopening destinations suspended during the years of the pandemic. “We are back to flying from Samui to Hong Kong and Singapore and now plan to reopen our flights to Kuala Lumpur by the end of the year. We also operate charter flights to China. And we are increasing frequencies from Samui to Bangkok and Singapore for the winter season,” said Mr Prasarttong-Osoth. However, the Bangkok Airways CEO acknowledges that the political situation in Myanmar has prevented flights from being resumed to Mandalay, Yangon or Naypyidaw- the capital of the country. “However, as soon as the situation improves, we plan to start flying again to Myanmar,” he added.
Meanwhile, the airline also boosted domestic connectivity with flights linking Chiang Mai to Samui, Phuket and Krabi, and more flights from Bangkok to Mae Hong Son and Lampang. Two to three new Airbus A319 or A320 aircraft are due to be added to their fleet during the year. “While the shortage of aircraft is a reality, we could also look at wet-leasing aircraft.”
The airline is also proud to continue implementing sustainability programmes. Waste management, meals including local organic ingredients and flight patterns that reduce fuel consumption are just some of these initiatives.
Hall 26b / Stand 206
