BALTIC INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES, A. S.: Latvia (19921995). BIA is formed at Riga in the first quarter of 1992 as an autonomous subsidiary of Latvian Airlines, A. S., the former Latvian division of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines, which holds 66.66% of the company’s shares. Houston-based Baltic International USA, under the leadership of Homi Davier, who had helped found Gulf Air, owns the remaining third.
Peter Ozolins is appointed president and he inaugurates thrice-weekly scheduled return services in mid-April linking Riga and Frankfurt with 2 Tupolev Tu-134B-3s and 1 Tu-154 leased from the parent. On April 15, IATA grants its newest member permission to change its old Aeroflot “SU” code to “TI.”
Previously granted permission to inaugurate service over a route from New York (JFK) to Riga via Belfast is withdrawn by the U. S. DOT in January 1993. The route will be given to American Trans Air instead. Two chartered Douglas DC-9-15RCs enter service as plans are made to inaugurate flights to three more German cities, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and Munich.
The aircraft do not work out and they are returned in early 1994. In their place, two Boeing 727-23s, originally delivered to American Airlines, are purchased. Destinations now visited include Frankfurt, Hamburg, London (LGW), and Dusseldorf. Plans are announced to form a new Latvian flag carrier in a joint venture partnership between Baltic International, the Latvian government, and SAS (Scandinavian Airline System).
Enplanements are reported for the first half-year and total just 20,707.
In 1995, traffic figures are also reported for the period through June and show customer bookings of just 19,756. In July, the government elects to disband the carrier, transferring national airline status to Air Baltic, which will be set up on August 29.
BANCONE SERVICES CORPORTATION: P. O. Box 71, Phoenix, Arizona 85001, United States; Phone (602) 589-3977; Fax (602) 5893365; Year Founded 1996. BancOne is set up by Thomas D. Janes at Phoenix in 1996 to provide local FAR Part 135 all-cargo and express services. Flights begin and continue with 5 Cessna 402Cs.
BANGKOK AIRWAYS COMPANY, LTD.: 140 Pacific Place Building, Sukhumwit Road, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand; Phone 66 (2) 2538352; Fax 62 (2) 253-4005; Http://www. bkkair. co. th; Code pG; Year Founded 1968. Originally formed as an air taxi operation, Sahakol Air (Sahakol Air Company, Ltd.) in 1968 to operate between the national capital and the resorts on Ko Sumai (Samui Island), this company is reformed into Bangkok Airways during the first week of January 1986, with Dr. Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth as president/CEO.
Scheduled services are started late in the month from Bangkok’s Don Muang Domestic Airport to Ko Samui with a fleet initially comprising 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec and 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain. The latter is Sahakol’s original aircraft, the Trade Wind.
An order is placed for a SAAB 340A. Unable to establish viability, BA goes bankrupt and operations are suspended in December 1987. The SAAB order is cancelled.
Having reorganized the company and acquired an Embraer EMB-110P Bandeirante, Dr Prasarttong-Osoth resumes services from Bangkok to Ko Sumai in 1988. Again, no traffic or financial data is released.
Operations continue apace in 1989 and orders are placed for both Irish and Canadian turboprops. Scheduled service is permitted from Bangkok to Ko Samui and Hua Hin and from Ko Samui to Phuket. Beginning in April, service to Ko Samui lands at the company’s newly opened private airport. Orders are placed for 4 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102s, which begin delivery in the fall.
Bad weather and pilot disorientation cause Flight 125, a DHC-8-102 with 5 crew and 33 passengers en route from Bangkok, to fly into the ground at a coconut plantation 5 km. SW of the runway at Ko Sumai on November 21, 1990; there are no survivors.
Service to Phnom Penh begins at the year’s end as enplanements between January and December total 153,557.
Airline employment totals 250 in 1991 and the fleet is made up of 4 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100s/300s, 4 Shorts 330s, 1 Embraer EMB-110P2 Bandeirante, and 2 Shorts 360s. A variety of local destinations form a new network, including Ko Samui, Hua Hin, Trang, Mae Hong Son, Phnom Penh, Utaphao, Samui-Phuket, Utaphao-Phuket, and Chiang Mai. Charters are also undertaken to Mandalay, Pagan, and Phnom Penh.
In 1992, another Shorts 360 is added while 3 of the Shorts 330s are put into storage. A leased Fokker 100 is placed into service in May flying tourists and UN officials daily between the company’s base and Phnom Penh.
In the face of competition from Thai Airways International, Ltd., the Cambodian route is abandoned and 2 British Aerospace BAe 146100s replace the Fokker jetliner.
Airline employment stands at 572 in 1993 and new tourist destinations include Loei and Sukhothai. In November, scheduled flights are initiated from the company’s private airport at Sukhothai near Bangkok to Mandalay via Chiangmai. Profits over the past 5 years total only $1.4 million on revenues of $81 million.
Former Air Siam, Ltd. Managing Director Virachai Vannukul becomes CEO in January 1994 and is given a mandate to upgrade the airline. To cut costs, he cancels service to Loei province and the Burmese city of Mandalay, closes the Paris office on the Champs Elysees, discontinues hot meals on the 50-min. route to Samui, closes another office in Bangkok, and generally reduces waste and free flights. In August, an arrangement is made to lease 5 Avions de Transport Regional ATR72-201s for 5 years. The first 2 ATRs are delivered by the end of October.
Although permission is sought to operate on Thai domestic routes, it is not obtained. Services now provided link Bangkok with Samui, Bangkok and Hua Hin, and Samui and Phuket.
Three ATR72-201s, under charter from their manufacturer, enter service in 1995. Early in 1996, a sixth ATR72-210 is requested. It is delivered in December and, like the earlier units, is employed to help expand the company’s domestic network.
Destinations visited in 1997-1999 include Bangkok, Chiangmai, Hua Hin, Loei, Mandalay, Phnom Penh, and Phuket. The fleet now includes 7 ATR72-201s and 1 ATR42-320. The Bangkok Post reveals on October 12 of the latter year the company now has two female pilots, Rungnara Unhasuwan and Muttika Limpisawat.
Flights between the south Thailand beach destinations of Koh Samui and Krabi commence on January 27, 2000. On April 1, Bangkok signs a seven-year lease agreement with Pembroke Capital. Under its terms, the airline will become the premier Boeing 717-200 operator in Asia.
The next day, thrice-weekly ATR72-201 roundtrips are started from Sukhothai to Siem Reap, along with four-times-a-week return service from Phnom Penh to the coastal resort of Pattaya.
Thrice-weekly roundtrips commence on July 27 from Bangkok to Krabi and to Siem Reap and from Phnom Penh to Koh Samui. Fleet renewal continues as the airline signs an agreement with ATR on September 7 to replace its current leased fleet with 12 new ATR72-520s by 2003. Simultaneously, 2 more B-717-200s are chartered from Pembroke.
The carrier, on October 11, announces the formation of a Cambodian subsidiary, Siem Reap Airways, which comes into existence on October 29. Employing 3 ATR72-201s leased from the parent, the new regional flies from Siem Reap to Bangkok, Phuket, and Sukhothai and from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and Pattaya.
Plans continue apace during the fall for receipt of the first B-717-23S on November 15. It will enter service from Bangkok to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in December on lease to Siem Reap Airways. The second unit, expected in March 2001, will fly from Singapore to the Thai holiday island of Koh Samui. The process of painting the Bangkok 717s is described in the December 2000 issue of Airways.
World History
