BRITISH Airways (BA) has launched a number of targeted promotions to build the UK flag carrier’s brand among Thai communities, said the airline’s country commercial manager for Thailand and Indochina.
Chaiyavut “Billy” Chomsakorn, the first Thai national to be appointed to the position (Hot Moves, May 15, 2014), said: “My focus is on (reaching out) to Thai communities, to get that market going, but you have to get the balance right between the local and expat communities.”
“The UK is very popular with Thais wanting to study overseas, and we are now the only direct flight to London to offer students a baggage allowance of 46kg on economy flights. We also recently launched a promotion with Kbank cardholders and we’re always looking for new ways to add value for customers.”
More targeted promotions will be rolled out before the year-end, he said.
Online sales are growing for the carrier, but travel consultants, especially corporate and business specialists, account for the majority of its ticket sales.
Thailand’s political crisis, and the recent spate of air traffic incidents including the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 25, 2014) and the downing of MH17 over Ukraine (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 18, 2014) have not affected business in a major way, said Robert Williams, BA’s regional commercial manager for South-east Asia.
“Business (between London and Bangkok) has been steady over the past few months,” he said, though he would not provide supporting figures. “We have not seen any significant effect (from the political problems).”
“Our thoughts go out to Malaysia Airlines and the victims of the accidents…We do everything we can to reassure any concern passengers have to help them remain confident that air still remains a very safe and secure way to travel.”
