PATA has a new Aviation member

PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, “PATA has a special relationship with Thailand, having moved its headquarters to Bangkok in 1998. That is why we are especially pleased to welcome Bangkok Airways as our newest Aviation member. We look forward to working with them to help build their business, network, people, brand, and insights through our various activities and initiatives.”

Bangkok Airways first began air transportation services in 1968—established as "Sahakol Air", it became the first private aviation company in Thailand. In order to fulfill the increasing demands for air transportation, Bangkok Airways officially began its operations in 1986 as the country's first privately-owned domestic airline; initially offering scheduled flights from Bangkok to Krabi, Korat, and Surin.

Presently, Bangkok Airways has obtained permits to operate scheduled flights over 20 different major routes—covering nearly all major resort destinations in Thailand. Additionally, the airline has also obtained permits to fly internationally to Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, India, Bangladesh and Maldives. Bangkok Airways has also invested in building and maintaining its own privately-operated airports at Samui, Sukhothai, and Trat. These developments provide Thailand with more air transportation hubs to in order to facilitate increasing air traffic volume.

“Bangkok Airways is proud to be a member of PATA who actively acts as the leading voice and authority on travel and tourism representing the public and private sector in Asia Pacific”, commented Capt. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth – President of Bangkok Airways PCL.

According to PATA, international visitor arrivals (IVAs) to Thailand from source markets where Bangkok Airways operates, excluding Maldives, totalled 5.4 million during the first 8 months of 2015, 27% of the total IVAs year to date. In addition, PATA forecasts that IVAs from the same source markets to Thailand will reach the 11.4 million mark by 2019.