Three new low-fare carriers will go head-to-head in Thailand's domestic market next year, with Malaysia's AirAsia launching a Thai carrier in January, Orient Thai Airlines starting its 1-2-Go no-frills service and Thai Airways International forming its own low-cost subsidiary, write David Fullbrook and Leithen Francis.
AirAsia Aviation, as its Thai offshoot is registered, will be 51% owned by Thai telecommunications conglomerate Shin Corp, founded by Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but will be marketed under the same brand as the Malaysian carrier.
"Everything will be AirAsia," says AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes, "same uniform, same website, same colour scheme". Based in Bangkok, it will initially operate two Boeing 737-300s, rising to six within six months, to domestic destinations such as Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Hat Yai and Phuket and as-yet-unnamed international routes to "Indochina [Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam] and Malaysia. The aircraft will be leased from parent company AirAsia, which operates nine of the type and has orders for 13. Fernandes says he is ready to lease three more 737-300s, bringing its fleet to 25. "We should have 30-40 aircraft by the end of 2005," says Fernandes.
Bangkok-based Orient is also gearing up for expansion, with 1-2-Go aiming to launch with six Boeing 757s early next year. Already using one 757 for charter operations between Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Japan, the carrier expects to have 12 757s within two years, and is also negotiating to lease six Boeing MD-80s.
Thai International is aiming to launch its as-yet-unnamed low-cost carrier in the first quarter next year, and has previously indicated that it intends to own 25-49% of the venture.
Source: Flight International
