Thai Vietjet Air plans to both grow its fleet and add staff even though domestic air travel with Thailand remains subdued amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline says it plans to grow its fleet to 15 aircraft “by 2021”, and is in the process of hiring additional flight crew, ground crew, and pilots.
The airline now has a fleet of 11 A320 family jets, all of which are leased.
“The airline has recently held a Cabin Crew Recruitment Day attracting thousands of applicants in Chiang Mai, Thailand,” it says.
“The event successfully created hundreds of jobs in the country as the airlines plan to increase its manpower to 1,000 from current 700 by the end of this year. Additional recruitment for pilots, engineers and other positions is also being conducted.”
Thai Vietjet Air is an associate of Vietnam-based low-cost carrier Vietjet Air. Vietjet Group owns a 9% stake, while Thai Vietjet Aviation (Thailand) owns 52% and International Investment, 39%.
Based at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the carrier operates to domestic destinations such as Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Chiang Rai.
Thailand’s airlines have been hard hit by coronavirus, which has caused a collapse in international tourist arrivals.
Cirium schedules data shows that Thailand’s domestic air travel is also down. In September 2020, domestic ASKs fell 20.6% from a year earlier.
Publically-listed Thai carriers such as Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, and Thai Airways International all posted losses in the second quarter.
