Ezy Airlines has scrapped plans to launch flights between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, along with other routes across northern Thailand, after Chiang Mai International Airport set an aircraft parking fee that the carrier says it cannot absorb.
Sources in the aviation industry confirmed the move to MGR Online yesterday, August 24.
The airline, operated by M-Landarch Co., Ltd., had unveiled the Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son-Chiang Mai route last month, with the service due to begin in September and move to full operations from October 1. The route was billed as a way to support tourism and boost the economies of Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
Before the reversal, Ezy Airlines had test-flown the Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai-Pai routes and, at Mae Hong Son province’s invitation, explored further tourism routes it had planned to launch by the end of this year.
A flight between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son takes 35 to 40 minutes, compared with six to seven hours by road.
According to the source, Chiang Mai airport had told the airline it would need to pay an aircraft parking fee, officially termed a parking fee, of 40,000 baht (roughly US$1,150) each time a plane used the airport. The airline said this cost made the route unviable even before flights began.
Ezy Airlines had planned to operate the routes using a 12-seat Cessna Caravan, two of which are reserved for pilots, leaving 10 seats for passengers. Fares were set at roughly 2,500 to 3,000 baht (about US$72 to US$86) per flight.
Even with every seat filled on every flight, ticket revenue would not have covered the parking fee.
As a result, the airline has halted all its planned northern Thailand flights, including routes it had also been considering to Nan and to Mae Sot in Tak province. Its existing southern Thailand operations are unaffected.
The source also pointed to a wider problem in Thai aviation: airports that remain staffed but see no flights, sometimes described as “ghost airports.” Private operators have pushed to add services at these airports, the source said, but without government support, the issue has gone unresolved.
Ezy Airlines is a short-haul carrier that connects major and secondary cities within Thailand, offering scheduled and charter flights on 12-seat Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft.
It began operating in 2024 from a base at Hat Yai International Airport in Songkhla, flying to Betong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Narathiwat, and has positioned itself as aiming to be the leading airline in southern Thailand.
This news comes as Ezy Airlines had already postponed its Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai-Pai and Chiang Mai-Nan routes earlier this month while awaiting self-handling approval from Chiang Mai airport, saying at the time it remained committed to launching all three services.
The story Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son flights could be dropped, operator says as seen on Thaiger News.
