La crisi non ha tardato a farsi sentire, le compagnie low cost che hanno chiuso i battenti questo mese sono già due:One-Two-Go Airline tristemente famosa per i 90morti dell'incidente a Phuket settembre 2007, e la Nokair (nok in Thai vuol dire uccello)
Colpa del caro petrolio, dell'affluenza scarsa di turisti in bassa stagione, ma anche per altri motivi politici che è meglio non divulgare su un Blog.
Queste chiusure stanno provocando una vera “caccia al biglietto” specialmente per il mese di Agosto per la località di Phuket in particolare.
Trovare un posto ora con THAI AIRLINE compagnia di bandiera oppure con il vettore Low Cost AIR ASIA è praticamente impossibile.
Di certo queste chiusure non sono un beneficio per il turista che sceglie Phuket come meta, gli operatori in questione praticamente hanno creato una egemonia, a breve seguiranno sicuramente anche i rincari.
Approfondimento su Collega-Menti.
Articoli in Inglese dal sito Phuketwan:
DCA Suspends One-Two-Go For Air Safety Breaches
By Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison
Monday July 21, 2008
THAILAND'S Department of Civil Aviation today strongly criticised the budget airline One-Two-Go for deficiencies in the safety and management of its services.
The DCA Director General, Chaisak Aungsuwan, delivered a summary of the findings of the department's own investigation into One-Two-Go and its parent company, Orient Thai Airlines.
The damning report comes on the eve of a self-imposed ''temporary'' suspension of One-Two-Go services, which the airline claimed was caused by rising oil prices.
However, the Director General said today that the air operator certificates of both airlines were being suspended for 30 days from July 22 because of poor safety standards.
One-Two-Go did not have a proper system for maintaining its aircraft and did not follow the flight operations manual regarding the length of working hours for pilots.
In one of the most damning aspects of the report, Khun Chaisak said that One-Two-Go pretended that some pilots had passed proficiency tests to fly the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series.
That was not the case. The reports had been falsified, he said.
Mandatory safety training was not carried out because there was no trainer to check that pilots were familiar with the Flight Operations Officer Manual.
The airline had no management oversight of areas concerning maintenance and safety, Khun Chaisak said.
One-Two-Go and Orient had both broken aviation laws so the DCA was obliged to ground them under the existing 30-day legislation.
The companies will have to prove they have upgraded their standards before they can resume flying.
However, the DCA plans to prosecute those responsible for the breaches of safety and maintenance standards uncovered by the DCA investigation.
''The department will file criminal suits against their pilots, inspectors and the companies within two weeks,'' Khun Chaisak said.
Look for more updates. Here is Phuketwan's earlier report:
PHUKETWAN has been told to expect the results of the Department of Civil Aviation investigation following last year's Phuket air crash to be released this afternoon.
Public access to the long-awaited report comes at an interesting time.
Budget airline One-Two-Go is to cease flying ''temporarily'' on July 22 due to cost pressures caused by oil prices and market conditions, the airline says.
Similar pressures must also be testing the executives at other airlines, especially those in the budget category. For Phuket, flights from Bangkok and overseas cities are the arteries that sustain the tourism industry.
The One-Two-Go suspension is happening just as British and American families of the victims of the crash of Flight 269 last year pursue compensation in US courts.
Ninety passengers and crew died when the plane slammed into the tarmac at Phuket airport on September 16, or soon after. Forty passengers survived.
A report published on July 20 in The Times Online says: ''Since the accident the airline has denied allegations by some of its former pilots that crews worked excessive hours and that maintenance standards were lax.''
While early reports blamed strong winds and rain for the crash, the Times Online article says a more complete investigation highlights pilot error.
Pilot Arief Mulyadi, 56, from Indonesia, and his Thai co-pilot were killed on impact.
One-Two-Go has denied allegations by some former pilots that crews worked excessive hours and that maintenance standards were lax.
According to the Times Online, Bonnie Rind, an American whose brother died in the crash, says she has obtained a transcript of material from the flight recorders.
''After a warning from the control tower of wind shear - a sudden, violent gust - the Thai co-pilot, who was flying the aircraft, opted to 'go around' for a second approach,'' the article says.
''However, according to the transcript provided by Rind, neither he nor Arief engaged the correct controls after retracting the wheels.
''As the MD82 continued to sink towards the runway, the co-pilot's last words were, 'You have control.' There was no response from Arief.
''For 15 seconds the engines could be heard idling as the MD82 descended, then for four seconds they roared to full power as an attempt was apparently made to save the aircraft.
''Two seconds before the crash a wind shear alarm went off. Then there was silence.''
We await this afternoon's release with interest.
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Nok Air Drops Phuket-Bangkok Flights, Sacks Staff
By Chutima Sidasathian
Friday July 25, 2008
NOK AIR is cutting its daily flights between Bangkok and Phuket from the end of July, along with services to three other destinations.
About 20 Nok Air staff at the airport on Phuket are also going to lose their jobs as the aviation industry crisis, fuelled by rising oil costs, impacts on Thai travel nationwide.
Inevitably, the cutbacks will affect tourism on Phuket and before long, investment on the island in property and resort construction.
Nok Air, the budget arm of Thai Airways, is also cutting flights from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, U-bonratchatanee and Krabi.
It will retain services from Bangkok to U-donthani, Chiang Mai and Haad Yai.
A Nok Air spokeswoman blamed the cuts on oil prices and the general economic downturn. Nok Air has been flying the route since February 10, 2006.
The disappearance of the Nok Air flights leaves only Air Asia and Thai Airways operating on the Bangkok-Phuket route.
Thai Airways maintains about 10 flights on the route a day, with Air Asia having six flights.
Another budget airline that serviced Bangkok-Phuket, One-Two-Go, has just been suspended from flying by the Department of Civil Aviaition for 30 days, perhaps longer.
The dramatic reduction in cheap air flights is likely to put many local travellers back on buses, force some international visitors to stay in Bangkok, and drive many to seek alternative holiday destinations to Phuket.
The Nok Air cancellations add to the tale of woe for tourism as the airline industry worldwide undergoes a shattering transformation.
While travellers with bookings will not be dissuaded from coming over the next few months, numbers are likely to fall away soon as the international downturn spreads.
Australians, for example, are largely unaffected and still able to travel, although rising costs will affect them, too.
In Europe, though, the knock-on effects of the banking and lending crisis in the US are already rumbling through the economies of many countries.
Holidays, especially on long-haul flights with the cost of seats rising, are something fewer people can afford.
The only real positive from the crisis is that it may reduce airline flights sufficiently to relieve the pressure on Phuket airport as it undergoes a major expansion to cope with increasing numbers of tourists.
If and when those increasing numbers of tourists will begin arriving is now the question that nobody can answer.
All You Need To Know:
Signs are not good for Phuket's tourism and property industries as airlines throttle back for a rough passage through darkening clouds. Embattled One Two Go CEO sees a silver lining; Flower show a bright spot.
Airline Setbacks Will Slow Phuket, Too
The message coming from the real estate industry on Phuket is that the outlook has never been more promising. This is a surefire indication that sales are slow and now is the time to set your own price
Buy Phuket Property Now At Bargain Prices
This green season on Phuket will be an old fashioned low season because of inflation and falling visitor numbers. Yet new brands continue to arrive and existing resorts are expanding.
Phuket Suffers: Tourists Down, Inflation Up
The Director General of Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation has delivered a strongly critical report following the department's investigation of the One Two Go airline and its parent, Orient Thai
