Low-cost airlines growing fast

Low-cost airlines (Nok, ThaiAirAsia) are growing fast, going international & stealing passengers from big established airlines (THAI).

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AVIATION

Low-cost airlines get larger

24/10/2012
Boonsong Kositchotethana

Budget airlines boosted their share of passenger traffic through Thailand in the fiscal year ending Sept 30 to nearly 40% as major airlines saw lower volumes.

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) carried 20.34 million passengers through the country's six main airports, representing 38.8% of the total... [compared to 17.64 million passengers last year for 36.9% of the total].

The Low-cost carrier (LCC) model was almost unknown in Thailand eight years ago when full-service airlines still ruled the skies.

... LCCs increased their aircraft movements in the past year by 15.12% over the previous year to 152,800.

International LCC passenger traffic jumped by 18.62% to 6.88 million, while the domestic tally rose by 13.59% to 13.45 million

... Thailand's two largest budget carriers ...are... Thai AirAsia (TAA) and Nok Air...

[Aviation analysts project that] LCCs' market share [in global air traffic] will exceed 50% in the next 3-5 years....

.... there is a clear trend towards greater numbers of passengers travelling on discount airlines, spurred by the LCCs' rising popularity and their adding many more aircraft, routes and flight frequencies.

With its rapid growth Thai AirAsia (TAA) may be carrying more passengers than the flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) within five years.

THAI carried 18.39 million passengers in the previous calendar year, while TAA targets passenger volume of 8 million this year, rising to 10 million next year, with roughly 20% annual growth...

Thailand is attracting more foreign LCCs including Spring Airlines, China's first and only low-cost carrier, which in August launched a daily non-stop flight from Shanghai to Bangkok catering to the influx of Chinese tourists to Thailand.

TAA plans to add more flights and open new international routes, while Nok Air will relaunch international services next year, probably to southern China at first...

(Source: Bangkok Post, AVIATION, Low-cost airlines get larger, 24/10/2012, Boonsong Kositchotethana, link)


Airline Industry Vocabulary

Thai AirAsia (TAA) -  a joint venture owned by a Thai company and a Malaysian company ไทยแอร์เอเชีย (See Wikipedia)
Nok Air - a low-cost airline that started domestic flights in Thailand in 2004 นกแอร์ (See Wikipedia)
Thai Airways International (THAI) - Thailand's flag carrier, partly owned by the government (See Wikipedia)

airline -  สายการบิน

carrier - Same as "airline"
flag carrier - the national airline, the airline that represents a whole country (usually owned by the government)

aviation - the flying of aircraft การบิน science of flying aircraft ศิลปและศาสตร์ในการบิน
analyst -
aviation analysts

low-cost - cheap, inexpensive ราคาถูก
low-cost airline   
full-service airlines - the regular airlines (not low-cost, not cheap)

low-cost carriers (LCCs) - "an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge for extras like food, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage etc" (See Wikipedia)

budget - 1. low cost; 2. an amount of money able to be spent on something งบประมาณ
budget carrier
budget airline 
discount airlines

flight - an airplane traveling from one place to another place (sending or delivering people or goods to a destination) การเดินทางด้วยเครื่องบิน
non-stop flight - a flight without stopping เที่ยวบินตรง

frequency - how often something happens
flight frequencies - how often an airline has flights from one city to another city

route - a path or way that a car, bus or airplane travels along  ทาง, เส้นทางของรถ เรือ เครื่องบิน
domestic routes - routes inside the country

international - ระหว่างประเทศ between countries
international routes  - routes between countries

boosted - increased

traffic - the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง

passenger traffic - the number of passengers traveling to a place (during a period of time)
air traffic - the number of airplanes traveling from one place to another place (during a period of time)

global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
global air traffic

market share - the amount of sales of a type of product that a company has, compared with the total sales in the market (See Wikipedia)

share - Same as "market share"
share of passenger traffic through Thailand

fiscal - connected with the government budget, i.e., public money เกี่ยวกับงบประมาณ
fiscal year - the period of one year used by the government to plan spending (does not begin and end at same time as  a "calendar year")
the fiscal year ending Sept 30

volume - the quantity or amount of something
saw lower volumes

full-service airlines still ruled the skies

domestic - relating to a person's own country ภายในประเทศ
tally - a record or count of a number of items การบันทึกจำนวน
the domestic tally rose by 13.59% to 13.45 million

project - to guess or estimate what the size, cost or amount of something will be in the future based on what is happening now
exceed - to be more than something; to go beyond a limit  เกินกว่าที่กำหนด

clear - easy to see and understand
trend - a gradual change or development that produces a particular result   ทิศทาง แนวโน้ม
clear trend towards

spurred - caused ก่อให้เกิด
spurred by

popular
popularity
rising popularity

rapid - happening quickly อย่างรวดเร็ว
rapid growth

calendar - a printed table showing all the days, weeks and months of the year ปฏิทิน
calendar year

targets - goals or levels you plan to achieve
targets passenger volume of 8 million this year

annual - happening once a year ประจำปี
20% annual growth

launched - started เริ่มต้นดำเนินการ began เริ่ม
relaunch - start something again

launched a daily non-stop flight from Shanghai to Bangkok

catering - helping people; meeting the needs of people
catering to

influx - a large number of people or things entering a place
the influx of Chinese tourists to Thailand.