Lao Airlines set to expand its fleet
Lao Airlines set to expand its fleet
National carrier Lao Airlines plans to purchase two additional ATR72-600 propeller aircraft next year in a move to expand its flight services on both local and international routes.
“The first aircraft will arrive in Vientiane in May and the second in October,” the Vice President of Lao Airlines, Mr Sengpraseuth Mathouchanh, said on Friday.
The company signed a loan agreement with the Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL) to finance the purchase last Monday in Vientiane.
However the company does not want to reveal the exact cost of the two new aircraft. “It will cost no less than US$20 million,” Mr Sengpraseuth said.
Currently the airline has 13 aircraft - four MA60 with 56 seats each, four ATR72-500's and one ATR72-600 with 70 seats each as well as four Airbus 320's with 158 seats each.
The company plans to expand its fleet of aircraft because it wants to grow its service network on both local and international routes.
Its current network includes international routes to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand; Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam; Kunming, Quangzhou and Jinghong in China; Siem Reap in Cambodia, to Singapore as well as Seoul and Busan in the Republic of Korea.
“Recently there were three flights per week to Korea, but now we fly every day,” another Lao Airlines Vice President, Mr Saleum Tayarath, said on Friday.
He said routes to Myanmar and Malaysia are now under study and the company will start new flights between Vientiane and Yangon in Myanmar and to Malaysia in the near future.
Its domestic flights service the provinces of Luang Prabang, Champassak, Savannakhet, Xieng Khuang, Oudomxay, Bokeo and Luang Namtha.
Currently Lao Airlines has codeshare agreements with more than 30 airlines worldwide. Under a codeshare agreement two airlines can sell seats on the same flights, but under different flight numbers or codes.
It also hopes to have a codeshare agreement with French airline Air France-KLM finalised by the end of next year. Codeshare agreements let customers book flights through one airline that are actually operated by another, allowing both companies to expand their reach without actually offering any more flights.
The Lao Airlines' business has picked up recently with the national company adding four Airbus 320 aircraft to its fleet.
The airline recorded some 530,000 passengers in 2011 and more than 600,000 in 2012. It expects there will have been almost 1 million this year.
Lao Airlines attributes the increasing number of passengers to improved services. A report shows there were only 411,000 passengers in 2010 but only 275,000 in 2006.
The national carrier now has more than 70 ticketing agents in Vientiane and the provinces as well as more than 400 overseas.
Lao Airlines already has agreements with Thai Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Bangkok Airways, China Eastern Airlines, Qantas Airways, Silk Air, China Airlines, Korean Airlines and Eva Airways, along with interline agreements with Hahn Air, Aeroflot Russian Airlines, and Heli Air Monaco.
vientiane times
