Udon Air Passenger Traffic

[parrot]

The graph pretty much tells the story of the tremendous growth in Udon over the past 7 or so years.

I have nothing to base this on other than conjecture, but I'd guess a good % of those passengers are folks flying in from Bangkok attending to land transactions and managing ongoing building projects. I don't see any substantial increase in the number of foreigners living in Udon.....seems to me, most of the increase was in the 2000-2005 range.......but I could be way off the mark there.
Other other guesses why air traffic is way up in Udon?

[stattointhailand]

The graph pretty much tells the story of the tremendous growth in Udon over the past 7 or so years.

I have nothing to base this on other than conjecture, but I'd guess a good % of those passengers are folks flying in from Bangkok attending to land transactions and managing ongoing building projects. I don't see any substantial increase in the number of foreigners living in Udon.....seems to me, most of the increase was in the 2000-2005 range.......but I could be way off the mark there.
Other other guesses why air traffic is way up in Udon?

How about

Someone with an ulterior motive paid enough dosh to get the statistics massaged :-"

[BobHelm]

Don't think that is even close Statts...

It is more like Heathrow out there than the roll up park next to the door Udon that I remember from just a couple of years ago.
Plus Bangkok Airways have just decided that there is a passenger base large enough for them to start running daily flights. There are no flies on them, whatever the situation at Thai might be concerning fecal matter.
It is still even with the huge number of daily flights down to BKK, sometimes not easy to get a seat on the flight you want. Twice last year I had to stay a night in BKK because the last Thai flight up here was full.
Also, from my observations, if anything the flights contain fewer Falangs than they used to. The huge majority of passengers are Asian - even when the starting point is an International airport..

[parrot]

"Someone with an ulterior motive paid enough dosh to get the statistics massaged"

Except that.......7 or so years ago there were only a few daily flights to Udon and the parking lot was mostly empty. Today, there are more than a handful (?almost 2) daily flights to Udon and the parking lot seems packed all day long.
We flew a Thai Smile flight to Bangkok in Dec, then an Air Asia flight from Phuket to Udon in Dec, and later that month our daughter flew Thai Smile back to Bangkok. On all the flights, only a precious few seats were empty.

[JimboPSM]

The flat early part of the chart (2000 to 2003) is indicative of the fact that during those years there were only the three Thai flights a day to Dom Muang.

From memory the load factor on these flights was always pretty high and, without an increase in available flights, the volume of passengers had necessarily flat lined.

I am fairly sure that the dramatic increase shown in 2004 of about 70% related almost wholly to the start up of Nok Air on the route (and a near doubling ov available capacity).

In my opinion the introduction of Nok (a low cost carrier) to the route simply released the latent demand that had been economically barred previously because of cost and actually bore little or no relation to growth in Udon at that time.

It is difficult to pin down precisely what may be behind the movements since 2004 - there is another apparent flat lining from 2005 to 2008 and since then the growth has been pretty consistent; there are quite a few domestic factors that have occurred, amongst which for consideration are:

• • 2006 - the opening of Swampy.
  • 2006 - Don Muang closure
  • 2006 - coup.
  • 2007 - Dom Muang re-opening with Nok relocating there – giving the convenience of two Bangkok airports putting just about everywhere in “greater” Bangkok within an hour of one of the two airports.
  • Air Asia adding further capacity and low cost competition to Swampy.
  • The 2010 troubles.
  • The 2011 floods.
  • The limited introduction of destinations other than Bangkok (not all of which have been successful – e.g. Singapore).

While there will have been some increase in business traffic, I’m not convinced it is material when compared to the total volume of passengers; my (limited) observations in having used Thai, Nok and Air Asia on a couple of dozen occasions is that the passengers appear to be predominantly ordinary Thai people and not business moguls.

I believe that quite a large proportion of them will have switched from bus and train services to air travel as, with the introduction of the low cost carriers, it became much more affordable and with the major added bonus of a considerable time saving.


What can be deduced from the quoted figures is that while in the last decade the volume of passengers (arrivals + departures) has increased by about a million Thai Airways has seen none of it.

From having had almost 100% of passenger traffic up to 2003, Thai now have less than 25% - all the growth has gone to competing airlines and Thai has even suffered the ignominy of falling to third place in volume terms behind Nok and Air Asia

[FrazeeDK]

Plenty of lao and expat Lao and other going up to Lao who fly into and out of Udon too.. check those Lao license plates in the parking lot. The flights into Vientiane are limited and the Lao charge higher landing fees/taxes which affect the cost of a ticket (BKK-VTE) by 25% or more.. With the booming economy in Lao due to the Chinese dumping millions of dollars into that country, that certainly adds to the air traffic through Udon..

[parrot]

jimbo "I believe that quite a large proportion of them will have switched from bus and train services to air travel as, with the introduction of the low cost carriers, it became much more affordable and with the major added bonus of a considerable time saving."

Makes a lot of sense. Standard of living for a lot of people in Udon has gone up over the years.....or at least all those newfangled subdivision homes tells me so. Along the same lines, when we first moved here in the late 90's, I'd take the train to Bangkok. I wouldn't take a free trip on the train now. I lost my taste for decrepit bathrooms and a high number of accidents.

As for the Lao load.....next time someone swings by the full parking lot, maybe do a visual on the plates. Lots of yellow plates = lots of Laotian folks. Ten years ago it was rare to see a yellow plate in Udon......now, they're all over....and they're not driving econo cars!

[FrazeeDK]

yes, the low-ball cars from Lao are the Ko-Lao Hyundai 9 pax vans, you see lots of them.. On the high side hundreds of top-of-the-line SUV's of all different types that even if they dodged the high tax in Lao (which they probably did) they plunked down over a $100,000 to get them... Those folks certainly wouldn't be taking the bus or train. They're flying....

[welshwizard]

I think its pretty basic why people fly .The trains and buses are rubbish. The last 3 trains i have caught were filthy and 2 to udon to bkk took 17 hours 1 with track problems , 1 with brake problems. The last one fron bkk to udon was a nightmare.18 hours. I hour out of bkk the wheel uder my carraige starting banging .Stopped for over an hour while some men hit the wheel with hammers ,then carried on all the to udon at about 30kph with the wheel banging underneath my bed all the way
. As i expected to be here at 8am had not ordered breakfast and as they had packed up ready to rush to go home when they reached nong khai would not even serve me a pot noodle for my little boy. Left bkk at 8pm arrived udon 2pm .As my boy is now 4 yrs old had to pay for a bed for him even though he slept with me . Could never let a 4 yr old sleep by his self on a train ?Crazy. Cost 750 for me and 750 for wife , 650 for 4 yr old boy. 2150 baht.
Caught a bus udon to bkk. Asked if my boy could have a seat and was told quit fairly that if it was full he would have to sit with me. If i wanted to make sure he had a seat i would have to pay for him, which i did cost 1800baht for Three.Got to KK and the woman at the bus station woke me to tell me to have the boy on my lap for an adult to sit down . Big argument lots hassle.The bus stank of urine . The toilet door would not shut and banged until kk when i bought something to tie the door with. My seat would not recline . Took 13 hours as the guys kept stopping with big bags of stuff they were selling on the way.
Last time i flew udon bkk with air asia . Booked long in advance got promo cost for three 2,300 baht. 1 hour
Absolutely no point taking a bus or train with todays flight prices .
ww

[Galee]

Someone I know moved from Udon to BKK. He gives his son a generous allowance and his son flies back and forth several times a week just to see his old mates.

[rick]

Looks like WW gets all the bad luck. I must admit i haven't used the train recently, but that is because the bus is so more convenient (sometimes fly). But i know the trains have recently had problems. But i haven't had a problem with full buses, being asked to give up a seat, or unscheduled stops. I have never paid as much as 600 baht either. I wonder what 'tour' company WW used?

[GT93]

I'd like to parrot Parrot's comment that the standard of living for a lot of people in Udon has gone up a lot over the years. I enjoyed writing that sentence. I'd add the standard of living of Udon people living in Bangkok has gone up a lot as well. Udon economic development is really obvious if you don't live in Udon and only visit once a year as I now do. The Thais are becoming wealthier. I first visited Udon in 2002 and it's a completely different place now. The Thais are doing a lot of things right despite their political tensions.

[welshwizard]

Looks like WW gets all the bad luck. I must admit i haven't used the train recently, but that is because the bus is so more convenient (sometimes fly). But i know the trains have recently had problems. But i haven't had a problem with full buses, being asked to give up a seat, or unscheduled stops. I have never paid as much as 600 baht either. I wonder what 'tour' company WW used?

Why have the mods not blocked this.This topic is about why people fly more. Called me a liar 3 times and never mention why people fly more.
Today i went to the bus station .Cheapest ticket on vip aircon bus with toilet 550bhat. Most expensive on airport s class bus nearly 800 baht. As you called me a liar tell us where you can get a bus to bkk a lot cheaper than 600 baht.
Bus story for you rick . My wife bought the tickets 588 baht and was told it was an s class bus and we had seats upstairs near the back as i asked. Got to the bus (457 or similar no )and it was filthy. Seat was downstairs in the little compartment where i did really not want to be.Tried to get refund , refused.
Got to my seat and the room was full of really big bags and every window had a big air freshener on it.10 mins later the smell of urine was why the fresheners . It was overpowering. The 2 girls on the back seat were crying.The toilet and compartment door did not shut and banged until i tied them.The aircon did not work and the temp read 35c all the way to bkk.
Rick you must never had children. Thai people do not pay for their kids as the sit them on their lap to save money .The woman at korat (not kk sorry ) bus station did not know i had paid for my child and woke me and him to get him out of his seat. I did not want to wake my wife but had to so she could explain i paid for the seat but was a load of hassle at 3am. Should not sell more tickets than seats .
The bus then dropped off the drivers son and kit at an army barracks in korat as he was joining the army. It then stopped at various intervals to drop off those big bags for money . Once in the middle of nowhere the guy got off the bus walked into the woods and came back 30 min later with a wad of money. This happened last year.
I have caught over 30 sleeper trains to and from bkk in the last few years and never has 1 been on time. Usually arrive in bkk about 1-3 hours late and in udon 1-2 hours late. 6 yrs ago train was 450 baht and now 750 but train still the same one made in south korea in 1972. Over 40 yrs old it now has problems continuously. Trying to have a crap with my boy at 7am in a urine soaked toilet is also no fun.You also have to eat and drink on the train making it even more expensive, beer 140baht for chang. Trip probably cost me ,wife and boy 3000 baht all told
1 hour flight on a clean plane las time 2300 baht this april 3240 baht for 3 .
This is why more people are flying as the cost is not mush difference, esp for 1 person but the convenience is a massive difference.
i do not tell lies.
ww

[maaka]

Sounds like the ride from hell Taff...

[maaka]

PS...has anyone every tried Aero Club Cessna from Udon to BKK?? or dont they have

[welshwizard]

Maaka you had better believe it . Worst trip i ever had . I wanted to get off in korat and stay in a hotel but my wife persuaded me to stay on the bus.
I had a similar bad trip udon to rayong of 17 hours. Had lots of good trips to but long time ago now ,i think all the buses were bought 10 yrs ago and not many new ones now just repainted. Same as everything in thailand no profit put back into the business.
Not much care or respect for passengers these days.Why do these buses not carry water in the tank and just have a big drum of water in the tiny toilet making it nearly impossible to use without getting piss and water on yourself.Nightmare when a little 4 yr old wants a crap. Old farts on here forget not everyone is an old fart and how hard it is for someone with a child .
Just looking at flight udon bkk 24 april 3000 baht for 3 of us air asia . Cannot beat that going by dirty dangerous bus or dirty late train.
never heard of the aero club cessna
ww

[maaka]

yup the plane is more expensive, but your there before can unwrapped the plastic from your soggy sandwich, with its unidentifible ingredients, and down your jungle juice..maybe you could do the bus thing it in two stages, with an over night stop in a temple halfway there..

I have always wondered about areo clubs in Thailand..I do alot of flying in small planes..sometimes pilots hire small planes and you can flick them some coin to sit in the spare seats to help cover their costs..but it is alongtime since I was in a small plane in Siam, but just like other countries, they must have areo clubs and airfields..I think there is one over KK way...maybe someone can enlighten us abit on another thread...

[rick]

Never said WW was a liar. As i said, haven't used the train in a while, last time was 2011. On the buses use them about 2 times a year; but i used to pay about 450 baht Udon-Bangkok when go to Swampy; dug out an old ticket but it was 2-3 years old and it said 418 baht. Not sure what it cost last year when i did the trip, but not much more. Special offers on flying are ok when you can get them, but often luggage is extra. I mainly travel to Bangkok-Udon Udon- Bangkok for connecting International flights, and which i use depends on the departure/arrival time (e.g. Plane often arrives Swampy to late to get the flight to Udon that day, so take the bus). Last year i took a bus trip in Europe, and i can assure you it was very similar in facilities to the thai buses i use (but no free drinks and snacks like in Thailand).

[parrot]

The numbers keep growing.....and given that the number of flights is increasing as well, I have no reason to doubt the numbers aren't fudged (much).

[pomps]

Agree Parrot so many more flights now.would be a tad strange if the numbers did not go up as well ,arriving back today absolute mayhem in the car park,double parking madness as my Thai flight arrived just before Bangkok airways and Nok air just leaving

And so far judging by the airlines through observation is that airlines except Bangkok airways use the connecting walkway,had to wait for 5 mins for Nok air to free it up,gawd knows if air asia had landed as well this afternoon