By DPA
Bangkok : Thailand’s low-cost airline Nok Air has suspended its daily Bangkok-Bangalore flights after five months of operations, citing rising fuel costs and aircraft shortages for the cancellation of its first international route, media reports said Tuesday.
The airline, a subsidiary of the national carrier Thai Airways international (THAI), will stop its Bangkok-Bangalore route Friday, said The Nation newspaper.
Nok Air chief executive officer Patee Sarasin, in a press statement, attributed the cancellation to “an unexpected shortage of aircraft, increasing needs for human resources and the constant rise in the cost of jet fuel oil”.
Industry sources said that Nok Air’s passenger-load factor had recently fallen to 40 percent on the Bangkok-Bangalore route.
Bangalore was Nok Air’s first international destination. The low-cost airline was set up by Thai Airways to cater to the domestic market, but CEO Patee has expanded its routes overseas starting with Bangalore.
Jetstar Asia, a low-cost carrier operating out of Singapore, recently withdrew its five-days-a-week Singapore-Bangalore flights, citing low passenger numbers.