Nok Air discontinues only route to Mae Hong Son
Nok Air discontinued the only direct flights to Mae Hong Son.
Nok Air ATR 72-200 at Chiang Mai International Airport. Photo: Jakkrit Prasertwit.
Nok Air discontinued the only direct flights to Mae Hong Son. According to the company, they were losing money and decided to stop the flights from yesterday, Wednesday April 19.
Haze delays flight in Mae Hong Son, chokes downtown Nan
The province, where the popular tourist town of Pai is located, will only be accessible by road, as Nok Air was the only airline providing commercial service to the airport.
The president of the Mae Hong Son Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Chanakhet Boonyakhan, said she is working with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to solve the problems caused by the flight cancellations, and will try to convince Bangkok Airways to fly to the province, she added.
At the moment, tourists can only reach the province via three rural roads from Chiang Mai.
Last Farewell Turboprop Q400 l 19 April 2023
สายการบินนกแอร์ขอขอบคุณเครื่องบิน Turboprop Q400 นกอันนา นกข้าวเหนียว เเละนกคาปู เเละเพื่อนๆของน้องทุกลำที่ตีตั๋วพักผ่อนไปก่อนหน้านี้ ที่ทำงานหนักตลอด 8 ปีที่ผ่านมา ในการขนส่งผู้โดยสารสู่จุดหมายปลายทางด้วยรอยยิ้มอย่างปลอดภัย#Nokair pic.twitter.com/CUa0gFOuer
— nokairlines (@NokAirlines) April 20, 2023
The airline said it can no longer fly the Don Mueang-Mae Hong Son route because it is getting rid of its fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 – Q400 propeller-engine aircraft and replacing them with larger Boeing 787-800s.
Boonyakhan said a Boeing 737-800 could land on Mae Hong Son airport’s 30m by 2,000m runway, as Thai Airways used to fly to Mae Hong Son with a Boeing 747-400, a large aircraft.
Nok Air suffered financial losses from the use of the 50-seat De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 aircraft for eight years, due to high maintenance costs and poor competitiveness, according to a statement from the carrier.
-Thailand News (TN)
