SilkAir will benefit Laos

LUANG PRABANG  SilkAir’s plans to launch a service to Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos, late October, will boost tourism and is an important addition to the SQ group’s network in ASEN, according to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’s recent analysis.

CAPA said SilkAir’s new Singapore-Vientiane-Luang Prabang-Singapore circular route is strategically important for the SIA Group as Laos is the only ASEAN country not served by the group. AirAsia is now the only airline group serving all the 10 ASEAN countries.

SilkAir will launch three weekly flights to Vientiane and Luang Prabang  from 31 October. All three frequencies will operate on a Singapore-Vientiane-Luang Prabang-Singapore circle route using a two-class A320.

The new service means Silk Air can pick up passengers in Vieniane and Luang Prabang and fly them to the Singapore gateway (Changi) where they can connect with international services of SQ or other airlines.

Luang Prabang visitors and residents will be able to connect internationally at either the Bangkok or Singapore gateways. In the past, their only option was to fly to Bangkok.

“Foreign airlines serving Luang Prabang, a small resort town with huge tourism potential, will more than double in 2016… Laos is a small market, but with significant potential as it starts to emerge as a popular leisure destination,” the centre said.

The local Laos-Singapore market is small, consisting of less than 50,000 annual passengers. Singapore is the 12th largest source market for Laos’ tourism sector, while Laos is not among the top 20 largest source markets for Singapore’s tourism sector.

Total visitors  to Laos reached 4.6 million in 2015 and are projected by the Lao Tourism Development Department to surpass 6 million by 2020, then 8 million by 2025.

Visitors increased by 11% in 2015 and have nearly doubled since 2010. Visitor numbers by air account for approximately 15% of the total, but over the last five years have grown at a similar rate to the visitor numbers travelling overland.

“SilkAir and the SIA Group will obviously rely primarily on inbound traffic (to Laos) to support the new service to Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Combining the two destinations in a single flight, which SilkAir does for several of its smaller destinations in Southeast Asia, improves the economics of a route that would likely not be viable with just one of the destinations,” the centre said.

SilkAir will be keen to add capacity, with more frequencies and potentially a split of the two destinations, if its initial foray into the Lao market proves successful, it added.

Thai AirAsia will launch a daily flight service connecting Bangkok to Vientiane effective 1 July. The route is the second Thai-Lao connection following the Bangkok-Luang Prabang route which was launched  24 March.

sourced:ttrweekly.com