New airport - but did someone forget something?

[Gaybutton]

Suppose a brand new airport opens, but there are no flights in or out? Whoops!

That is exactly what happened at Thailand's new Betong Airport in the extreme southern city of Yala. The airport opened March 14 with plenty of ceremony and Nok Air was going to be the first airline servicing the airport. But Nok Air has already canceled service to Betong Airport. Why? No customers.
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Discounts plan to boost idle Betong airport

21 March, 2022

Tourism businesses in Yala's Betong district are proposing discounts on hotel accommodation and food for travellers using their brand new airport, after the Nok Air service quickly died from lack of interest last week.

The idea was floated at Monday's meeting of local officials, tourism and airline representatives. The meeting was chaired by Betong mayor Sakul Lenglakkul.

Betong's new airport was opened to great fanfare by the prime minister last Monday, with Nok Air launching three return services a week from Don Mueang airport in Bangkok.

Nok Air quckly suspended the service because there were too few bookings.

Tourism operators now plan to offer Nok Air a guaranteed booking of 75% of seats, but want the airline to slash ticket prices and resume flights by April 1.

They said they were targeting Malaysians arriving by land who wanted direct flights to Bangkok.

Narin Ruengwongsa, vice president of the Betong Tourism Association, said hotel operators planned to offer up to 40% discount on rooms, and restaurants and cafes up to 20% on food and beverage, for people travelling on Nok Air, which is the only airline servicing the new airport.

Travellers would only have to show their boarding pass to participating businesses to get the discounts, he said.

Mr Narin said it was hoped the plan would boost bookings on Nok Air, which suspended its service to Betong airport just two days after the inaugural flight last week.

Nok Air said there had been too little marketing time, and consequently the number of passengers was smaller than expected, while the operating cost was high.

Nok Air initially had three scheduled Don Mueang-Betong-Don Mueang flights a week - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of now, there are no plans to resume flights, the airline said.

Department of Airports director-general Parinya Sangsuwan said the DOA is preparing to call tenders for commercial development at Betong airport. There were currently no shops there, but there should be by May, he said. Bids would be called for an area of 100 square metres in the passenger terminal soon.

Mr Parinya said the DOA expects more tourists in May, which usually marks the high season in the district.

A department official said 70% of the commercial space at the terminal will be for general shopping and the other 30% for local products, in line with government policy to promote community enterprise.

Betong airport covers 920 rai and is 13km east of downtown Betong. The terminal can handle up to 300 passengers an hour, or 800,000 a year.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/22 ... ng-airport

[Jun]

So was the objective to provide a facility that's needed, or to give someone a profitable construction contract ? They could have just put up a small shed and then expanded it if the demand was there.

The area doesn't appear to be densly populated, so why would they expect domestic demand ?

Regarding tourist demand, the UK Foreign office advises against all but essential travel to this region of Thailand (link below). I guess some other governments offer similar advice. So I wouldn't expect tourists to be arriving in vast numbers even once Test & Go is abolished.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand

[Gaybutton]

I guess some other governments offer similar advice.

I would think so. That province borders Malaysia and is notorious for insurgent separatist attacks against police, soldiers, and innocent people. I can't think of anything there that would be worth the risk. Speaking only for myself, it's a "No Go" zone.

Why Thailand wanted to build an airport there in the first place goes beyond me. I can't imagine it would be a popular tourist or holiday destination.

[Jun]

Why Thailand wanted to build an airport there in the first place goes beyond me.

Probably someone profiting from the construction contract. Thailand has numerous oversized construction projects where the size of the construction is way out of proportion to the demand.