Bangkok political turmoil affecting airlines

The ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city, is not only costing that country very dearly in terms of loss of tourist arrivals, trade and commerce but has also now affected airlines flying there.

Kenya Airways has now taken the reluctance of booked passengers into account, to fly into the face of potential danger and get stuck, should the uprising in the streets of Bangkok spin out of control, as it has done in the past, and offered booked passengers the option to reschedule their travels without charge.

This applies with immediate effect until at least January 17, at which time the decision will be reviewed, should the cycle of violence and chaos persist.

There is some emerging evidence that passenger numbers, especially new bookings to Bangkok, have been affected and while no one at Kenya Airways is willing to give any figures as to the drop in bookings, other airlines too have broadly confirmed that travelling to Thailand’s capital at this moment in time is not the most-favored destination of passengers. Bangkok, especially in conjunction with onward flights to Guangzhou in China, was a key revenue spinner for Kenya Airways until this latest political crisis struck, and very likely affecting the overall performance of The Pride of Africa in the current quarter of their financial year.