Flights to/from Koh Samui
 

Is Bangkok Airways the only carrier operating to/from Koh Samui? I've been trying to book flights from SIN and not only is PG the only carrier flying direct to/from USM, but even TG doesn't fly to USM from BKK. Nor do regional LCCs like Air Asia or Jetstar. Out of curiousity, any reason why this is so?

PG owns the airport. TG gave up the BKK route several years ago. There's nothing wrong with PG, but it's likely going to be pricey. Book early if you can.

-David

PG doesn't desire competition from other airlines, especially those that are likely to undercut it. This wasn't so much of an issue with TG, and TG also has quite a bit more clout in Thailand than LCCs from other countries (i.e. rejecting TG outright probably wasn't a viable option).

Thanks. My last trip to Samui was nearly 10 years ago, so hadn't realised the change. Although didn't foreign carriers like SQ/MI and/or the LCCs fly Koh Samui too? At least before Covid? So presumably this monopolisation of the USM flights is a recent (covid?) development?

Airlines other than PG have served USM from time to time, but never amounting to more than ~10% of total flights. Again, they OWN the airport.

not at all!
PG owned the airport for decades... just few flights by other airlines also precovid...for a certain time also TG had one daily flight (with a 737) but they discontinued some time before Covid...

I vaguely recall that Scoot or SQ may have served the route at one time or another. I found a picture on my camera roll from April 2019 showing a TG plane at USM.

-David

I don't recall SQ itself flying there in the past, but MI did.
https://www.airliners.net/photo/Silk...Z9q2HzURLro%3D

I wouldn't be surprised to see SQ livery if/when they relaunch because SQ has been repainting MI 737s.

Given they own the airport, after TG retired their 734s, PG conveniently made sure that the official runway length is too short for anything larger than an A319 (which is what PG operate to USM alongside the ATRs..)

Interesting. I've no problems with flying PG, just the lack of alternatives and paying the markup in a monopoly. Ah well, can't be helped. Out of curiousity are there other airports owned by PG?

Not that I am aware of. 😊

Trat (the airport for Koh Chang)
so far only flights by PG to this airport

I do not think there is much space for an extension; certainly not for accommodating wide body aircrafts...

I suspect that entry barrier was erected with regional LCCs (that fly neither 319s nor widebodies) in mind.

PG officially shortened the runway a few feet so that TG's 737s couldn't use it. There's absolutely no question it was intended to prevent competition from TG. Welcome to Thailand.

I flew MI in J to SIN quite a few times. It was a nice KF redemption, especially when KF was running discounts. PG aircraft have like 29 inches of pitch in Y, I find it barely tolerable for the 1 hour flight. Their J cabin is pretty nice, but they have a very limited number of those aircraft (and were not operating them during the pandemic).

Was not an extension, but a reduction to make sure to limit competition.

Wrong. Sukhothai, Trat and Samui are owned by PG…

Yeah, IIRC PG just shortened the official reported length by a few feet. Probably just needed a couple buckets of paint.

oh right, I completely forgot about Silk.

-David

I'm looking to book RT tix from BKK to USM, and would prefer to book the "Blue Ribbon" class - when I try to book on the Amex travel website, it's only showing economy, but in a range of fares Q/M and D. The price in D is the same as the "Blue Ribbon" price on the Bangkok Airways site (I want to use up an Amex credit) Is there some reason the flight is showing as code "D" it it is in the business section?

Thanks

some A319 have larger blue ribbon class seats with higher width and pitch

D is a business booking class on PG. Presumably if the Amex ticket books into D, you'll be in business class, but there are no guarantees (and personally I wouldn't risk it - would use the Amex credit on something less speculative).

It looks like PG is only operating two flights per day with the business class cabin.

Thx Kacee - I followed your advice and just booked thru the Bangkok Airways website.

Not worth the difficulty.

I have had a number of frustrations trying to use the Amex Travel website just to take advantage of the $200 credit - it's a pain every year.

I have the same issue with the Cap1 Venture X travel credit.

I assume the $200 travel credit is a Canadian Amex benefit? Can you use it on a hotel booking - FHR or Hotel Collection?

Yes - Amex increased the Plat annual fee from $499 to $699 (CAD), but you get an annual $200 credit through the travel website - it drives traffic to the site. the problem is that the search engine is crap, and I can never seem to book a flight in the specific class I am looking for. With travel being lighter the last couple of years, I have been concentrating on Marriott to keep my status, so haven't booked hotels thru Amex either.

That leaves booking short commuter flights or car rentals, to burn off my $200 - it's a pain. it would be so much easier if they just used the same search engine used by Kayak or google flights.

There have been campaigns from time to time to build a second airport on Samui. But nothing ever came of it.
You could fly to Surat Thani with Air Asia or Nok Air, bus to the pier and take the ferry to Samui. The airlines offer flight/bus/ferry packages which are considerably cheaper than a flight with Bangkok Airways. But they take a considerable amount of time. You’re still sitting on a bus when you could be already drinking a Leo on the beach.

Surat Thani has become disappointing since the Great Plague with only flights to and from Bangkok from what I can see on the arrivals/departures board online. I specifically want to fly to KUL from Samui and would stomach the ferry ride if Air Asia reinstated the route because the alternative is to fly to BKK and double back. I suppose flying to KL via HKT from USM would also be viable somehow.

Let's not forget that Malaysia's Firefly used to fly to USM direct from KL's other airport in Subang and undercut Bangkok Airways's insane regional fares but they stopped operating the route some years before the Great Plague.

I don't think it's viable for other airlines to fly to USM so I've give up hoping to see other airlines there. Cambodia Airways announced two return flights a week from Phnom Penh in May this year but it's scrubbed from their web site now. I assume that Bangkok Airways didn't think the route was viable so let Cambodia launch the route with crippling landing charges and thus proved their point.

It's not much mentioned but Bangkok Airways does offer a significant discount to Samui Residents on its USM flights and if you can prove residency then you get a special resident card and booking portal. It takes the sting off the fares, particularly ruinous international flights like the SIN one.

Also, when you're paying your absurdly high fare for a domestic or regional flight ex-Thailand you can rest assured that the airline has reinstated hot meals on the USM-BKK route (cold snack still on USM-HKT) and I got five glasses of wine with my hot meal on my recent SIN flight so you can get some added value from the journey.

a second airport on the small island would be crazy
Surat Thani is a viable alternative, but unfortunately not an international airport (can not check through luggage and stay in transit in BKK)

Possibilities:

1. Nationalise USM and hand it to the DoA or mandate that AoT buys it so there's an airport operator that is motivated to increase airline competition.

2. Build the bridge to the mainland already so we can drive reliably at any time to Surat Thani airport without relying on ferries.

Anyone want to speculate on the likelihood of either of these happening?

Why not:

2. caps on landing/parking fees at USM?

3. runway extension to accommodate 737s and A320s?

1. Not as long as the influential and very well connected owner change the strategy of his airline (the airline is the smaller part of his business)
2. This project will probably come as fast as the Kra canal;)

Why couldn't he just lower the landing fees to the same ballpark as Trat, Phuket, etc? Obviously, the real estate is more prime than its peers, but this could be taken into account without resorting to anti-competitive practices, and the airport would remain a profit center on its own.

I suppose that the other consideration is that the high direct air fares and inconvenience of getting the ferry relative to other domestic destinations helps keep the riffraff away from Samui and points them towards Phuket and Pattaya which can only be a good thing.

Pretty sure I saw Cambodia Airways on the departure board when I was leaving Samui in June. Maybe it was short lived.

Exactly. Big fanfare with press pictures and everything in May. Erased from history now.

Because . . .

This is Thailand.

Yeah, but you can soon buy 1 rai of land with your $1m investment in Thailand!

Buy it at the end of the runway.

-David

if the government change to Phuea Thai (Thaksin clan) and/or Forward (Thanatorn), you might have to sell it again as they strongly oppose this law....lucky if you still get the same price...

Another #winning moment in December. It appears availability from BKK-USM is completely zeroed out in the week between Christmas and New Year with two weeks to go. Is this normal at this time of year? In this situation, does PG tend to put on additional flights or do they just laugh all the way to the bank?

We've booked our one-way from USM-BKK in the week before Christmas and are currently facing a return flight to Surat Thani with bus and boat ride to get home for New Year.

I'm seeing flights on 25, 26, 28, and 31.

27 and 31 currently available. No surprise at all that availability is limited in this week. If you want a direct flight book and pay for it and check later if seats become available on a more preferred date, if you did not pay for preferred date in the first place.