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Thai AirAsia X To Take Off Very Soon
12th May 2014
Thai AirAsia X, the local subsidiary of the long-haul brand, AirAsia X, is now on its final stage of preparation for the grand launch of its service come June 17.
The airline's CEO, Nadda Buranasiri, may be new to the industry, but he is just as eager to turn his airline as a top choice for budget travelers in the region. Like Tony Fernandes, the budget airline's founder, Nadda also came from the music industry (as managing director of Warner Music Thailand) prior to his current designation.
He promised to make Thai AirAsia X a household name in the near future in the low-cost long-haul sector. While Thai AirAsia serves destinations within the 4-hour long flights, Thai AirAsia X serves destinations within the nine-hour flight range.
The inaugural long-haul flight to launch on June 17 will be the Bangkok-Seoul route. In the following month, the budget airline will launch two Japanese routes from its Bangkok hub to Osaka and Tokyo. Both the Bangkok-Seoul and Bangkok-Tokyo routes will be once-daily service, while the Bangkok-Osaka service will be five times weekly frequency.
The CEO disclosed that a route expansion plan is already in the pipeline with possible routes to at least 10 destinations in the next five years. Though he didn't specify the exact destinations, he hinted that they will fly to where most Thai travelers go. China naturally comes to mind as a possible destination for the long-haul airline based on the premise that it is one of the favorite destinations for Thais. China, Japan and South Korea are the three top destinations for most outbound Thai tourists.
Thais can visit Japan without a visa for 15 days or less and South Korea for up to 90 days. This visa-free entry policy by these two countries has encouraged many Thai travelers to go there mostly for shopping and leisure.
For its maiden operations, the airline will keep a fleet of a couple of new Airbus A330-300 aircraft each of which has a seat capacity of 377 in a dual-class configuration where 12 seats are assigned for business class.
Thai AirAsia X will operate from its main hub at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, where its regular budget sister airline, Thai AirAsia, also holds its main hub.
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