| Mekong Express Home | - Laos Home - | Editor for Mekong Express |
 |
 |
 |
"The Little Airline That Could"
Improvements On All Fronts
by Vito Cesari
After years of uncertainty and vacillation, Laos' national airline is making progress on all fronts. Route networking and marketing agreements are being signed with strategic partners and services are being improved.
Founded in 1975, Lao Aviation, the national flag carrier, is now jointly managed by Lao Aviation (Laos) and Yunnan Airlines (China). It is the first inter-regional alliance between Laos and another country. The signing ceremony between the two parties was held on 31 December 1994 in Vientiane, the Lao capital. Laos is the only country that has borders with the five other countries that comprise the Greater Mekong Region: Yunnan Province (China), Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Therefore only Lao Aviation can claim that it "flies the heart of the Mekong region" from the very heart of the Mekong region itself.
Civil aviation in Laos in undergoing enormous change, challenge and revitalization. Wattay Airport, the air facility which accepts all inbound international air travellers, is undergoing a complete overhaul and facelift. The international air terminal will eventually become the domestic terminal. A new international terminal is now on the drawing boards. In Luang Prabang, the premier tourist destination in Laos, a new airport is set to open in October 1996; the runway is being lengthened from 1,800 meters to 2,500 meters to accommodate jets. Some dozen-plus airfields scattered all over Laos are being upgraded to meet ICAO standards.
Committed to safety, airline ground personnel are conscientious and work with modern aircraft handling equipment. Dedicated to being on time, international pilots are experienced American nationals with almost 100 years "combined" flying time. Lao domestic pilots have received training in France, USA, Russia and China and are well-qualified to deal with challenging terrain and unpredictable weather. With computers at their fingertips, ticketing staff are bilingual and have attended specialized schools. On the flight-line, operations data are maintained in accordance with accepted international practices.
Hiring qualified employees is made necessary by the fact that Lao Aviation operates five representative offices outside Laos. They are: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh--Yangon and Kunming will open next. These offices service seven international routes, including new ones to China and Myanmar. Additional routes soon to open are: Xishuangbanna, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, Taipei, and even beyond Asia to North America. All routes, of course, feed the domestic arm of Lao Aviation, now comprising 29 routes. The flag carrier currently operates 13 aircraft. More have been ordered from the States and Western Europe, insuring that the fleet is of highest caliber.
Projections show travel and tourism in Asia-Pacific growing faster than in any other region--as much as twice as fast as Europe and North America. Preparing to fly into the 21st century, Lao Aviation has laid a solid foundation for the future. The opening of its new routes to Yangon (Rangoon) and Kunming is proof that Lao Aviation believes the potential of the six Mekong countries is best realized by promoting them as a distinct grouping rather than as individual entities. Lao Aviation's flight policy abolishes expensive and time-consuming backtracking to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City before proceeding onward to the next destination. Consequently the airline gives excellent value for money, economizing on actual point-to-point fares within the region.
Beyond inaugurating a computerized reservations system worldwide, new marketing techniques also required a new global vision. It is for this reason that the airline's red, white and blue logo was redesigned. Although the colors are still the same, a new white swan's tail and floral pattern, traditional Lao motifs boldly outlined in blue, are displayed on a red disk. This new image will proudly compliment Lao Aviation's launch into the 21st century. Its good-natured and congenial staff believes the air carrier's new motto speaks for itself: "Excellence is doing many small things well." For the best in old-fashioned attention to detail but the finest in modern service, speed and comfort, choose Lao Aviation whenever you fly anywhere within the Greater Mekong Subregion.