Airlines urged to offer more

Airline operators have been advised to provide more promotions and packages at the lowest possible prices and serve them up to customers throughout the year, as a means of surviving through 2009.

The advice came from AirAsia's group chief executive Tony Fernandes, in commenting on the outlook for the coming year, in which the number of tourist arrivals in Thailand and domestic travellers are both expected to dwindle.

"In this most difficult time, people will prefer to stay at home. More packages, at low costs, at all times, will be the only means for airlines to survive. This will inspire people to check up on their holidays once they hear about the offers," Fernandes said.

Whatever misfortunes may occur - such as economic crises, political turmoil, even disease outbreaks - if the public is offered attractive prices, they will definitely consider them, he said.

Another key means of attracting customers is networking. Airline operators must offer passengers more destinations than they expect. They should also introduce new destinations as this will ensure customer loyalty.

The Malaysia-based AirAsia Group - Asia's largest low-cost airline operator - is planning to add four or five long-haul destinations to its flight schedules in 2009, among them some of the region's major cities.

Easier travelling is also a part of Fernandes' recipe for survival. Among its new services, AirAsia regularly introduces marketing tactics such as online check-in, waiving fuel surcharges when fuel costs plunge, and having its own low-cost terminal to avoid difficulties.

In response to increased demand following the recent re-opening of Bangkok's airports, the company introduced a massive regional campaign called "Get Your Baht to Thailand".

The campaign offers 100,000 free seats from the airline's bases in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Johor), Thailand (Bangkok) and Indonesia (Jakarta).

Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia - the Thai unit of the Malaysian group - said the campaign aimed to attract tourists in the region to Thailand following the end of airport crisis, which forced some airlines to cut flight frequencies.

Following its motto "never give in", AirAsia recently expanded the services of its long-haul budget affiliate, AirAsia X. While other airlines are cutting flights because of the falling number of travellers, AirAsia X has launched a new service between Kuala Lumpur and London, starting at ?99 or Bt5,000 per sector, to boost tourism between Asia and Europe.

"The airline hopes to attract a huge number of travellers between the two continents, drawn by famous tourist attractions like Bali, Phuket, Vietnam, Cambodia and China," Fernandes said.

The launching of the London-Kuala Lumpur route is a major step towards AirAsia realising its international aspirations and strengthens Kuala Lumpur's claim as the regional aviation hub and gateway to the Asean region.

AirAsia X currently flies to the Gold Coast, Perth and Melbourne in Australia, and to Hangzhou in China. Thailand can expect to gain more European tourists from the low-cost airline's expanded schedule.