Bangkok / 14 August 2019 (Today) - Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited (BA) announces its operating results for the six-month period of 2019 with total revenue amounting to 13,865.7 million baht. The net profit was reported at 637.3 million baht, decreased by 1.4 percent compared to the same period of 2018.

Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President of Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited commented that, “In the second quarter of 2019, the total revenue of the company was 6,077.4 million baht, dropped by 4.2 percent from the same period last year. The decreasing revenue was mainly from airline business activity as a consequence of slow growth of international tourist arrivals to Thailand, high competitiveness in the airline industry and strengthening of the Thai Baht. For this quarter, the number of passengers grew slightly at 2.3 percent while average fare revenue dropped by 4.3 percent. Passenger yield per RPK was 4.04 baht, weakened from the second quarter of 2018 by 2.5 percent.”

“For the six-month period, the company reported total revenue amounting to 13,865.7 million baht, decreased by 1.4 percent from the same period last year. The decrease in total revenue was mainly due to airline and airport businesses which declined by 4.0 percent and 9.4 percent respectively. Revenue from airport-related services and other related business activity and unallocated revenue grew by 5.8 percent and 12.2 percent respectively. Total expenses of the company during this period increased by 6.1 percent mainly from higher average market fuel prices and additional costs related to employee benefits increases according to the new Labor Protection Act. The company reported a net loss at 187.2 million baht for the first half of this year with the loss attributable to the equity holders of the company amounting to 189.6 million baht. Loss per share for the six-month period of 2019 was therefore 0.09 baht.”

Mr. Puttipong continues, “In the second quarter of 2019, the company launched the Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang route with 3 flights weekly as well as increased flight frequencies in some popular routes such as Chiang Mai–Krabi (one way) to 7 flights weekly, Krabi-Bangkok (one way) to 28 flights weekly. In this quarter, the company also decreased flight frequencies in some routes to reflect the actual travel demands which are Bangkok-Phuket (one-way) from 56 flights weekly to 49 flights weekly and Chiang Mai-Bangkok (one way) from 39 flights to 35 flights weekly. For the second quarter of 2019, the number of passengers was 1.3 million, increased by 2.3 percent, mainly gained from point-of-sale activity in Asia excluding Thailand at 26.0 percent, Thailand at 22.0 percent and Europe at 17.0 percent of total passengers.”

For the second half of 2019, we will continue seeking new business platform, increasing revenue channels by focusing more on selling our tickets online. For instance, we will partner with Shopee (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Thailand’s largest e-commerce platform to be able to connect with their vast online customers base as well as to be more visible in our own potential markets. Moreover, we will roll-out numerous sale campaigns to boost advance sales,” added Mr. Puttipong.