Nok Air flights between Bangkok and Mae Hong Son Airport in northern Thailand shall be discontinued on April 19. The province, residence to the favored backpacker town Pai, shall be solely accessible by road since Nok Air was the one airline servicing the airport commercially.
The airline mentioned they’ll no longer fly the Don Mueang – Mae Hong Son route because they are scrapping their fleet of Q400 aircraft (80-seat turboprops) and swapping them for Boeing 787-800 jets (189 seaters).
Senior President of the Mae Hong Son Chamber of Commerce, Chanakhet Boonyakhan, mentioned that a 737-800 jet may land on the runway at Mae Hong Son Airport, which is 30 metres by 2000 metres. After all, Thai Airways used to fly a 747-400 plane, another massive jet, to Mae Hong Son with no downside.
However, the cost-effectiveness of servicing the route with a 189-seat aircraft is low. Treasure -seat flights are often full, but the demand is not higher than that, mentioned Chanakhet. There ought to be no less than 100 folks on the flight to make it cost-effective.
Bangkok Airways’ ATR-72 propeller planes, with around 70 seats, would be suitable to fly to Mae Hong Son province, said Chanakhet.
Now, the province can only be accessed by automotive on three routes, particularly 1) Chiang Mai – Pai – Mae Hong Son (1095), 2) Chiang Mai – Hod – Mae Sariang – Mae Hong Son (108), and 3) Chiang Mai – Doi Inthanon – Mae Chaem – Khun Yuam – Mae Hong Son (1263).
Most vacationers seeking to journey to Pai take a minivan from Chiang Mai, which is far cheaper than flying and only takes two to 3 hours.
However, taking anti-car illness drugs (which can be bought at 7-Eleven) is very really helpful on the steep and winding street up into the mountains, which incorporates 762 turns.
In September 2022, Nok Air suspended all Chiang Mai – Nakhon Ratchasima flights simply six weeks after the route’s inaugural flight, also over cost-effectiveness, leaving Korat Airport a ghost city.
The service had high potential, linking the capital of the North to Nakhon Ratchasima – aka ‘Korat’ – in northeast Thailand, which in any other case takes 10.5 hours to drive..