Outbreak reduces travel demand in first quarter

Airlines faced another setback in the first quarter as the continued pandemic stunted travel demand.

Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways, said the airline adjusted flight frequencies to meet passenger demand during the new wave, which caused the number of domestic flights to drop 85.6% year-on-year.

The airline closed the first quarter with revenue of 1.36 billion baht, a sharp decrease of 78.8% year-on-year, while the average load factor stood at 58.8% with 151,900 passengers, down 88.5%.

Bangkok Airways posted a net loss of 757 million baht, compared with a loss of 339 million in the same period last year.

Mr Puttipong said Bangkok Airways, part of the BBS consortium that won the bid to build the Eastern…