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| Founded | 8 December 2003 | |||
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| Hubs | Suvarnabhumi Airport | |||
| Secondary hubs | ||||
| Frequent-flyer program | BIG[2] | |||
| Fleet size | 21 | |||
| Destinations | 24 | |||
| Parent company | AirAsia | |||
| Headquarters | Bangkok, Thailand | |||
| Key people | Tassapon Bijleveld (CEO)[3] | |||
| Website | www.airasia.com | |||
Thai AirAsia (Thai: ไทยแอร์เอเชีย) is a joint venture of Malaysian low-fare airline AirAsia (Thai: แอร์เอเชีย) and Thailand's Asia Aviation. It serves AirAsia's regularly scheduled domestic and international flights from Bangkok and other cities in Thailand.
Thai AirAsia is the only low-cost airline operating both domestic and international flights from the Suvarnabhumi Airport.[4]
The airline sponsors the Thai football teams Buriram PEA, Muangthong United, Chonburi, Osotspa Saraburi, BEC Tero Sasana, Chiangrai UTD, Samut Prakan CUTD, Suphanburi, FC Phuket and Krabi.
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Thai AirAsia launched domestic operations on February 2004. It was set up as a joint venture by Shin Corporation and AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes.
In order to be licensed in Thailand as a domestic carrier, 51% of the company must be owned by Thai shareholders. The sale of Shin Corp. stock in January 2006 by the now self-imposed exiled ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings put this Thai majority stake in jeopardy.
On 15 February 2006 it was announced that Asia Aviation, a registered Thai company, had taken Shin Corp.’s 50% stake in Thai AirAsia. Asia Aviation was a joint venture set up by Shin Corp., which held 49% of Asia Aviation's shares while 51% was held by Thai investor Sittichai Veerathammanoon.
In May 2007, Thai AirAsia's management acquired 100% of Asia Aviation. Today, Thai AirAsia is 50% owned by Asia Aviation, 49% owned by AirAsia, and 1% owned by Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld.
On 12 November 2008 Thai AirAsia, along with their parent company, AirAsia, abolished fuel surcharges. In doing so claimed to be the ‘first airline in the world to abolish fuel surcharges.’[5]
While other airlines are downsizing in line with a slowdown in travel demand triggered by global economic meltdown, budget carrier Thai AirAsia is to expand its operations in year 2009. It is targets carrying about 1 million more passengers, adding four new jets and introducing up to six new routes in India and China, while maintaining existing frequencies and routes in year 2009.
Thai AirAsia is optimistic that it can turn its balance sheet around with "good profit" in 2009. This would be a major recovery from 2008, when it was hit by a "significant" loss in fuel hedging and the Bangkok airport closure crisis.
“There should be a smile on our face in 2009,” Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia said yesterday, referring to profitability. He declined to confirm whether the airline would report a loss last year, although he indicated that its balance sheets had been significantly impacted by negative factors.
Thai AirAsia reportedly betted heavily on short- and long-term hedging contracts in 2008 when oil prices shot through the roof before collapsing around the end of the year.The airline stopped new hedging arrangements towards the end of 2008 though it is still burdened with previous contracts.
The carrier filled 76–78% of its seats in January 2009 and projects an average load factor of 85% for all 2009. Also in the same month, the airline received first of four new A320 airliners, raising its current fleet to 15 aircraft. The remaining three planes are scheduled to join Thai AirAsia’s operations later part of year 2009.
With additional aircraft, Thai AirAsia will raise its capacity by about 30%. The carrier targets carrying 5.1 million passengers in 2009, up from 4.2 million recorded in 2008.
The new jetliners will be essentially used to operate Thai AirAsia's planned new routes, two or three will each be assigned to India and China. The Thai AirAsia chief declined to name the planned cities but said they are within a radius of 3–4 flight hours from Bangkok.
Thai AirAsia's domestic destinations are Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand; Hat Yai, Krabi, Phuket, Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani in Southern Thailand; and Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani in Northeastern Thailand.
Its international destinations are Singapore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Bali, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau. It also has daily flights between Phuket and Singapore as well as Hong Kong. It has announced plans to fly to more cities in China and to Kathmandu in Nepal, Clark in the Philippines among others.
Most the airline's international routes connect to Bangkok; all flights on these are served at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
The total Thai AirAsia fleet consists of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 22 | 180 |
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