Bangkok Airways History
Bangkok Airways was formed in the year 1968 as Sahakol Air. The airline began scheduled services in the year 1986 and became the first privately-owned domestic airline of Thailand. The airline re-branded in the year 1989 and changed their name to Bangkok Airways. 92.31% of the airline’s stake is owned by Dr. Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, 4.3% by Sahakol Estate, 1.2% by Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, and 2.1% by other shareholders. Its subsidiary airline Siem Reap Airways is wholly owned by the airline itself. Bangkok Airways built their own airport at Koh Samui and it was functional in April, 1989. The airline provided direct flights to Chiang Mai, Krabi, Hong Kong, Phuket, Pattaya and Singapore. The airline opened a second airport in 1996 at Sukhothai Province and a third airport in March 2003 in Trat Province. This initiative of the airline was to serve the blooming tourism destination of Ko Chang. The airline entered the jet world, with the inclusion of jet aircraft Boeing 717 in its fleet in the year 2000.