Nok Air

Nok Air
นกแอร์
IATA ICAO Callsign
DD NOK NOK AIR
Founded 10 February 2004 (2004-02-10)
Commenced operations 23 July 2004
Hubs Don Mueang International Airport
Secondary hubs Chiang Mai International Airport[1]
Alliance Value Alliance
Subsidiaries NokScoot (51%)
Fleet size 32
Destinations 30
Company slogan Smiling Across Asia
Parent company Nok Airlines Public Company Limited
Traded as SET: NOK
Headquarters Rajanakarn Building 17th Floor, 3 South Sathon Road, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand
Key people Mr Patee Sarasin (CEO)
Revenue Increase 12,312.93 million baht (2014)
Net income Decrease -471.66 million baht (2014)[2]
Total assets Increase 6,569.00 million baht (2014)
Total equity Decrease 3,771.12 million baht (2014)
Website www.nokair.com

Nok Air (SET: NOK, Thai: นกแอร์, derived from nok (นก), the Thai word for bird) is a low-cost airline in Thailand operating mostly domestic services out of Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport.[3] Thai Airways owns the largest stake in the airline.

History

The airline was established in February 2004 under Sky Asia Co., Ltd. and started operations on 23 July 2004. It had 130 employees in March 2007 and around 1,400 in 2014.[3] Nok Air began its first international service on 31 May 2007, with daily flights to Bangalore, India.

Nok Air serves the largest number of domestic routes within Thailand (24 routes).[4]

Since its inception, Nok Air has been operating largely independently from Thai Airways. This has led to some friction between the two companies. To gain greater control of Nok Air, Thai Airways has tried to purchase the shares of other shareholders, notably Krung Thai Bank. Although Thai Airways and Krung Thai Bank are both state enterprises under the control of the finance ministry, Krung Thai Bank refused to sell its shares in Nok Air to Thai Airways. The purchase would have lifted Thai Airways' stake in Nok Air from 39 to 49 percent.[5]

Due to the preparation process to be listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), the company name had been changed to "Nok Airlines Company Limited" on 16 January 2006. Then, at its initial entry to Thailand's stock market, it was renamed "Nok Airlines Public Company Limited" (since 18 January 2013) with trading symbol "NOK".[6]

In 2014 Nok Air announced a joint venture with Scoot Airlines (a low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines) to form NokScoot, a low-cost regional airline based out of Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok.

A new company slogan, "Smiling Across Asia" was unveiled in June 2016. It hints at Nok's strategy of becoming the dominant regional carrier.[7]

Turbulence in 2016

Beginning in mid-February 2016, Nok Air cancelled numerous flights and issued several contradictory stories to explain the cancellations. The resignation of 17 pilots that followed a 14 February work stoppage by about 10 pilots and the 25 February announcement of an extension of flight cancellations 10 March cast doubt on the airline's competence.[8]

There are issues of dissension between Nok Air management and cockpit staff, charges of nepotism, and questions about pilot loyalty. In its 2015 financial report released on 26 February, the airline acknowledged that the turnover of cockpit staff had exceeded the normal rate, well beyond expectations. There are just under 200 pilots working at Nok Air, considered too few for the scale of its operations.[8]

The problem arose after Thailand tightened its aviation standards to comply with the European Aviation Safety Agency, disqualifying some pilots, Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin told local media. Thailand is under pressure to improve its aviation standards after US authorities downgraded the country's aviation safety rating in December 2015.[9]

To remedy its shortage of pilots, Nok may be permitted to boost the number of its foreign pilots beyond the 40 percent cap mandated by Thai law according to Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. The 40 percent pilot quota is set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), which aims to encourage airlines to employ more Thais as pilots. Pilots, according to the Labour Ministry, are on the list of 39 jobs where Thai nationals are preferred, jobs ranging from barbers and secretaries to certain fields of engineering. Nok in February hired 32 new pilots, bringing their total to 212.[10]

Destinations[11]

Domestic

From Bangkok - Don Mueang International Airport (Primary Hub)
From Chiang Mai – Chiang Mai International Airport

International

Myanmar
Vietnam
Singapore

Miscellaneous

Nok Air also offers ferry services to domestic island destinations as well as domestic and cross border coach services to Vientiane and Pakse in Laos in conjunction with other tour operators.[11]

Fleet

Nok Air Boeing 737-800, Phuket International Airport.
Nok Air ATR 72-200, Chiang Mai International Airport.
Nok Air Boeing 737-800 at Don Muang International Airport

Nok Air operates more than 20 aircraft. As of 11 March 2016, the Nok Air fleet consisted of the following leased aircraft.[12][13]

Nok Air fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers Notes
C <abbr title=Nok Eco/Flex>Y Total
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen 8 - — 86 86 Launch customer for high-density variation
ATR 72-500 2 — — 66 66
Boeing 737 MAX 8 0 8 — TBA TBA
Boeing 737-800 22[14] 3 — 189 189
Total 32 11

Major Shareholders

Major Shareholders (as of 17 March 2015)[15] % of shares owned
Thai Airways International PLC 39.2%
Siam Commercial Bank 3.44%
Mr. Patee Sarasin 3.28%
Thai NVDR Company Limited 2.84%
Credit Suiss AG, Singapore Branch 2.53%
Morgan Stanley & Co. International PLC 1.63%
Mr. Supapong Asvinvichit 1.48%
Mr. Songkram Cheevaprawatdomrong 1.28%
Mr. Pichai Karnjanarporn 0.80%
TISCO Master Pooled Fund 0.76%
Mr. Chanin Charisarapong 0.75%
State Street Bank and Trust Company for Canada 0.73%
TISCO Dividend Long Term Equity Fund 0.52%

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Nok Air". Nok Airlines PLC. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "F/S & Highlight". Stock Exchange of Thailand. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 56.
  4. ↑ "Nok Air adds more small cities to plan". Bangkok Post. 29 Mar 2011.
  5. ↑ "KTB rebuffs Thai offer for Nok". Bangkok Post. 24 Jan 2011.
  6. ↑ "NOK History". Nok Airlines PLC. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Kositchotethana, Boonsong (10 June 2016). "Nok Air to repair image with new slogan". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  8. 1 2 Kositchotethana, Boonsong (2016-02-29). "Mending Nok Air's broken wings". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Thai budget carrier Nok Air cancels flights over pilot strike". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  10. ↑ Mahitthirook, Amornrat (2016-02-27). "More foreign pilots for Nok Air". Bangkok Post.
  11. 1 2 "Nok Air routes". Nok Airlines PLC. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Nok Air Fleet
  13. ↑ Nok Air Mini Fleet
  14. ↑ http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2015-08-21-Boeing-Delivers-Nok-Airs-First-Direct-Purchased-Next-Generation-737-800
  15. ↑ "NOK's Major Shareholders". Stock Exchange of Thailand. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
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