Thai Airways International president Piyasvasti Amranand believes the airline's planned low-cost carrier with Tiger Airways will still go ahead, despite delays caused by a lack of government approvals.
"The joint venture with Tiger has been delayed by bureaucratic red tape... but it will not take too long," said Amranand.
The new airline, Thai Tiger, was initially expected to begin operations by March but has not started flights. Asked if he was optimistic that it will eventually get off the ground, Amranand said: "Governments come and go [in Thailand]... Thai Airways has been here for 50 years whereas the average life of the government has been one or two years."
Thai also a 39% stake in low-cost carrier Nok Air, but Amranand believes that Thai Tiger will cater to a different segment.
"Nok Air intends to be a domestic carrier, it is concentrating on small towns in Thailand that we can't fly to," he said.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
