A broken monopoly on the Bangkok- Siem Reap air route

Luc Citrinot - 21 September 2012

 Days seem numbered for Bangkok Airways’ monopoly on Bangkok-Siem Reap  as Cambodia Angkor Air will start flying also the route. An important information for passengers as fares are likely to drop…

BANGKOK- It has been a juicy monopoly for Bangkok Airwayson the Bangkok-Siem Reap route. For over 20 years now, the Thai regional carrier has been the only airline allowed to serve the route, one of the most profitable of its entire network. Despite the short flying time of only 45 minutes – Bangkok is less than 400 km away of Angkor Wat temples-, fares are among the most expensive in Asia.

For many years, Bangkok Airways argued that Cambodia gave this exclusive concession as the airline took all the risks by pioneering the route. It might be true but prices charge today look increasingly irrelevant as low cost carriers offer these days cheaper fares to destinations located far more away from Bangkok…
On the website of Bangkok Airways, booking a return ticket with a departure on October 15 and a return on October 17 between both cities will cost a minimum of  THB 7,350 (US$ 245) without taxes (stand of booking on Sept. 20, 2012). All inclusive, the Bangkok-Siem Reap is finally priced at THB 11,045(US$ 368), marginally cheaper than a Bangkok-Jakarta...

But it seems that this will be over in November. Both Cambodian and Thai magazines announced last week that Cambodia’s national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) is set to compete against Bangkok Airways on the Siem Reap-Bangkok service starting from November.

Competition will be relatively limited at the beginning as CAA will only fly the route four times a week using an ATR72 aircraft compared to four to five daily flights for Bangkok Airways. However CAA already announced to upgrade the route to a daily frequency if passengers’ demand is there. Depending of the offered fare, the new flight could boost again a route which suffered from stagnation due probably to its too high fares.

Cambodia Angkor Air seems now to move into a more active phase of development. The carrier has been serving for the last two years only Siem Reap-Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh-Siem Reap; it added earlier this year three weekly services from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville. CAA plans now to also launch a Bangkok-Phnom Penh flight as well as services from Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to Hanoi, however in 2013. With the delivery of two new Airbus A320 by year-end, CAA plans also to launch flights to Japan and China.

Another carrier is also looking to fly to Thailand out of Siem Reap. Air Hanuman is ready to launch in two weeks time flights from Siem Reap to Pattaya-U Tapao Airport in a Boeing 737-400 with 144 seats. Fares will be sold as low as US$ 99… The airline is working in cooperation with travel agencies in Pattaya to bring travellers from Cambodia to Thailand’s most popular resort. And it could also be a good alternative for Bangkokians wishing to go to Siem Reap as U-Tapao airport is slightly over two hours away from the capital.