sanook
12th Jul 2004, 23:57
In the red corner is Air Asia and in the blue corner is Orient Thai. Nok Air to play the winner. Now begin:
The rivalry among no-frills flyers is already getting brutal. Udom Tantiprasongchai, chief executive of Orient Thai Airlines, says fierce competition from AirAsia and flag carrier Thai Airways has forced him to slash the fare on his One-Two-Go budget service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to less than $25, about 30% lower than he had planned. At that price, he admits he's losing money. But Udom has wreaked revenge. He says he routinely employs a team in his office to go on the Internet and buy up as many of the cheapest tickets on AirAsia flights as they can get, often spending more than $3,500 a day. It's a small price to pay, he argues, to keep the low-price tickets out of the hands of potential AirAsia customers and to foster ill will toward his competitor. (Fernandes contends this hasn't damaged his business in Thailand.) "I buy them and throw them away," Udom says, adding, "I didn't expect this dogfight to be so serious.":E
The rivalry among no-frills flyers is already getting brutal. Udom Tantiprasongchai, chief executive of Orient Thai Airlines, says fierce competition from AirAsia and flag carrier Thai Airways has forced him to slash the fare on his One-Two-Go budget service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to less than $25, about 30% lower than he had planned. At that price, he admits he's losing money. But Udom has wreaked revenge. He says he routinely employs a team in his office to go on the Internet and buy up as many of the cheapest tickets on AirAsia flights as they can get, often spending more than $3,500 a day. It's a small price to pay, he argues, to keep the low-price tickets out of the hands of potential AirAsia customers and to foster ill will toward his competitor. (Fernandes contends this hasn't damaged his business in Thailand.) "I buy them and throw them away," Udom says, adding, "I didn't expect this dogfight to be so serious.":E