![]() Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 (RDPL-34196) | |||||||
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Founded | 2010 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceased operations | 2014 | ||||||
Hubs | Wattay International Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
Destinations | 8 | ||||||
Parent company | Phongsavanh Group | ||||||
Headquarters | Vientiane, Laos | ||||||
Website | http://www.flylaocentral.com |
Lao Central Airlines Public Company, operating as Lao Central Airlines, was an airline in Laos with its head office in Wattayyaithong Village, Sikhottabong District, Vientiane. [1] The airline was founded in 2010, and ceased operations in 2014.
It was the first private airline in Laos and offered premium and budget seats. The name change from Phongsavanh Airlines to Lao Central Airlines [2] [3] was meant to raise awareness for the airline as Lao-owned in international market. The airline is owned by the Phongsavanh group, a Lao company engaged in international trading, timber, hospitality, telecommunications, banking, and security products and services. The airline hired PricewaterhouseCoopers [2] for management consultancy services to ensure adherence to international aviation standards. [4] The airline was the second biggest among Lao airline operators in terms of fleet size.
Lao Capricorn Air Company was sold to Phongsavanh Airlines Public Company headed by Lao magnate Od Phongsavanh, which effectively took control of the airline in January 2010. After the takeover, the airline's name was changed to Phongsavanh Airlines to align with Phongsavanh Bank and became part of the Phongsavanh Group of Companies.
In 2012, Phongsavanh Airlines was rebranded as Lao Central Airlines.
Lao Central Airlines cancelled its Bangkok services in December 2013 due to the political unrest in Bangkok, and Luang Prabang services were suspended in July 2014 to allow for restructuring. [5]
The airline announced it would be resuming flights mid 2015 under a new owner, however, in December 2014 it was announced that the two Sukhoi SSJ 100 made for Lao Central Airlines were to be transferred to the Russian Federation Presidential Office putting in doubt the ability of the company to resume services. [6]
As of October 2016, there has still be no announcement on if and when services will resume.
The airline was owned by Od Phongsavanh, the owner of Phongsavanh Bank, a private bank in Laos.
Previously Lao Central Airlines flew to the following locations: [7]
Lao Central Airlines previously announced that it will service the following destinations once it resumes operations in mid 2015; to Luang Prabang (Laos), Bangkok, Hanoi (Vietnam), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Naypyidaw (Myanmar), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and other cities. [6]
This is a list of Lao Central Airlines fleet when it was active.
Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Y | Total | ||||||
Boeing 737-400 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 168 | 168 | |||
Sukhoi Superjet 100 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 85 | 93 | Total | 3 | 0 |
Evidence of modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, which constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state, dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians—associated with the Hoabinhian culture—and have populated the highlands and the interior, less accessible regions of Laos and all of Southeast Asia to this day. The subsequent Austroasiatic and Austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked Laos only marginally, and direct Chinese and Indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country.
Luang Phabang, or Louangphabang, commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ as Luang Prabang, literally meaning "Royal Buddha Image", is a city in north central Laos, consisting of 58 adjacent villages, of which 33 comprise the UNESCO Town of Luang Prabang World Heritage Site. It was listed in 1995 for unique and remarkably well preserved architectural, religious and cultural heritage, a blend of the rural and urban developments over several centuries, including the French colonial influences during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Phra Bang is a statue of Buddha in the city of Luang Prabang, Laos; it is the namesake of that city. The statue stands at 83-centimetre (33 in)s, with palms facing forward, cast using thong, an alloy of bronze, gold, and silver. According to local lore, it was cast in Ceylon sometime between the 1st and 9th century. However, the features of the image suggest a much later Khmer origin.
Lao Airlines State Enterprise is the flag carrier of Laos, headquartered in Vientiane. It operates domestic and international services to countries such as Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Its main operating base is Wattay International Airport in Vientiane. It is owned by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
Laos developed its culture and customs as the inland crossroads of trade and migration in Southeast Asia over millennia. As of 2012 Laos has a population of roughly 6.4 million spread over 236,800 km2, yielding one of the lowest population densities in Asia. Yet the country of Laos has an official count of over forty-seven ethnicities divided into 149 sub-groups and 80 different languages. The Lao Loum have throughout the country's history comprised the ethnic and linguistic majority. In Southeast Asia, traditional Lao culture is considered one of the Indic cultures.
Wattay International Airport is one of the few international airports in Laos and the country's main international gateway, serving the capital Vientiane, located 3 km (1.9 mi) outside of the city centre in Sikhottabong district, Vientiane Prefecture. The airport is operated by the Lao Airport Authority (LAA) and serves as a hub for Lao Skyway, Lao Central Airlines and Lao Airlines. The Lao Air Force also operates an installation at one end of the airport.
Luang Prabang International Airport, is one of the three international airports in Laos. The airport is located about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the centre of Luang Prabang. The second busiest airport in the country, it is a regional hub for international flights to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Siem Reap as well as domestically to Vientiane. The airport underwent significant expansion work in 2012–13, when it was upgraded and expanded, and the runway enlarged.
The French protectorate of Laos was a French protectorate in Southeast Asia of what is today Laos between 1893 and 1953—with a brief interregnum as a Japanese puppet state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina. It was established over the Siamese vassal, the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, following the Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893. It was integrated into French Indochina and in the following years further Siamese vassals, the Principality of Phuan and Kingdom of Champasak, were annexed into it in 1899 and 1904, respectively.
The Catholic Church in Laos is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The Catholic Church is officially recognized by the government.
Christianity is a minority religion in Laos.
Lao Skyway, formerly known as Lao Air, is a private, domestic airline, headquartered at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos. It operates scheduled and charter services to airports in Laos.
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The Kingdom of Vientiane was formed in 1707 as a result of the split of the Kingdom of Lan Xang. The kingdom was a Burmese vassal from 1765 to 1779. It then became a Siamese vassal until 1828 when it was annexed by Siam.
Royal Air Lao was the national air carrier of the Kingdom of Laos that operated from 1962 to 1974.
Kham Ouane Boupha is a Laotian soldier and politician. Appointed to command Phongsali Province in the Kingdom of Laos in 1957 or 1958 while he was in his mid-twenties, he would maintain that base throughout the impending Laotian Civil War. During that war, in April 1963, he would defect from government service to head the pro-communist Patriotic Neutralists movement. At the end of the war, as the Communists succeeded in gaining power through the Provisional Government of the National Union, Kham Ouane Boupha was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense on April 9, 1974. He was promoted to become Minister of Defense on May 12, 1975 and served as such for many years, even while he was also Minister of Justice. He retired from cabinet rank in 2006, becoming a minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Operation Xieng Dong was a successful defensive strike by the Royal Lao Army (RLA) against an invasion by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). In early February 1971, PAVN forces swept RLA defenders from a line of hilltop positions guarding the royal capital of Luang Prabang. The city's perceived invulnerability to attack was shattered. King Sisavang Vatthana refused to leave his capital. Other Military Regions of Laos hastily forwarded to Luang Prabang's Military Region 1 any troops that could be spared from the rest of the Laotian Civil War. On 7 April, the resulting patchwork force of RLA battalions, Forces Armee Neutraliste half regiment, and Central Intelligence Agency-backed Special Guerrilla Units managed a three-pronged offensive supported by tactical aviation that surrounded and defeated the invading PAVN 335th Independent Regiment, which had gotten within eight kilometers of Luang Prabang. By 5 June 1971, the 335th was in full retreat.
Vientiane railway station is a railway station in Vientiane, Laos. It is the second station on the Boten–Vientiane railway. The largest and most important station on the line, the station was opened along with the rest of the line on 3 December 2021.
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