Lao Airlines reported yesterday that they have not yet made a final decision on flight schedules during the SEA games and that they want to gather more information before making any announcements.
The Company's President, Mr Somphone Douangdara, said that while they will not alter scheduled destinations they will increase flight capacities to other provinces in Laos .
“It depends on demand, but I expect we will increase the number of flights. By how much we cannot say yet as we do not have accurate estimates of visitors,” he explained.
The company currently has weekly domestic flights from Vientiane to Champassak, Savannakhet, Xieng Khuang, Oudomxay and Bokeo provinces.
“There is a flight every three days to Luang Prabang in this season, but in the high season we have four flights per day, because Luang Prabang is very popular among visitors,” said Mr Somphone.
SEA Games Organising Committee Vice Chairman, Dr Phouthong Seng Akhom predicts that 10,000 people will come for the games. The hospitality sector is ready to accommodate them, while tourism businesses are all geared up to show them where to go after the games. Now all that needs to be certain is that there is adequate transportation to take them to all those interesting tourist places.
Lao Airlines is important to this aspect of the planning because many of the visitors are expected to want to continue travelling to other provinces such as Luang Prabang and Champassak. There they will need to transfer to buses and hire cars to travel to neighbouring provinces.
Lao Airlines reported that they are upgrading their ticket booking system to integrate with international airlines and to make it more convenient for customers during the SEA Games.
“International flights will also increase for similar reasons as domestic so improving the booking system will help our service,” Mr Somphone explained.
Lao Airlines currently offers trips from Vientiane to Bangkok , Hanoi , Siem Reap, Phnom Penh , Kunming and Chiang Mai.
“We want to make customers happy with our service at a reasonable price during the games,” Mr Somphone promised.
By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
vientianetimes
