Angsana Charters eyes regional links

KUALA LUMPUR - Angsana Charters of Malaysia will work with Thai domestic carrier, Skyeyes, to operate charters between KL and Trang in Thailand at the end of this month.

January and February will see three weekly flights on a 48-seater Antonov aircraft. If demand is good, the flights may become scheduled charters.

News of the Trang charters broke earlier this month (TravelWeekly, January 8), but at that time the name of the Malaysian operator was unclear.

Angsana Charters managing director, Chung Leik Kok, said charters were one of the company's strategies to open up new destinations and popularise them with regular flights.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company is only one of a few operators in Malaysia to mount international charters. During the forthcoming Chinese New Year holidays, it will mount scheduled charters from 24 January, from ports in China, to both Bangkok and Phuket. For Hari Raya Haji it is looking at Haj charters, flying pilgrims from Indonesia to Jeddah.

Angsana is planning a series of scheduled charters from Pattaya to Penang - three flights per week on Fokker 50 and the 48-seater Antonov. "We have conducted the test run successfully. We are working with a Thai company to market three days/two nights Phuket-Penang packages."

Chung is considering future charters from the former international airport at Subang to Pangkor Island and from Penang to Langkawi.

The operator may also base an aircraft in Singapore, possibly at Seletar Airport, to mount charters from Singapore to destinations in Malaysia such as Taman Negara (National Park), Redang Island and Pangkor Island.

"Singapore is a hub for international operations and we can tap the international traffic arriving in Singapore," said Chung.