Thai AirAsia to start daily direct flights on Bangkok-Siem Reap route

BANGKOK, July 15 (TNA) - Thai AirAsia will start daily direct flights between Bangkok and Siem Reap in Cambodia on Oct 1, 2013, with its fare during the promotional period, from July 15-24, 2013, set at 79 baht each. Thai AirAsia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tassapon Bijleveld told journalists on Monday that the new route will be his low-cost airline's sixth destination in Indochina, after having operated flights to Yangon and Mandalay in Myanmar, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Phnom Penh in Cambodia so far. The Thai AirAsia CEO acknowledged this year his airline focuses on Indochina, its second most important market after China, operating 70 flights weekly in the region, and that the number of its passengers had grown by 35 per cent in the first and the second quarters of this year, with its passenger growth peak on the Indochinese routes. To support the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the Thai AirAsia CEO noted, his airline is looking for new potential destinations and view Siem Reap to help strengthen its regional flight network. Regarding the regional low-cost airline's goal this year, the Thai AirAsia CEO said that it expects to serve some 10 million passengers, and that the goal is likely to be achieved, as his airline had served about 5.2 million passengers in the first half of this year with its revenue having grown by 20 per cent and China remaining its major market. (TNA)