Thai VietJet Air Set to Fly in November

20th Jul 2013

The local Thai subsidiary of Vietnam's first privately-owned airline, VietJet Air, is set to start operations by November this year.

The new carrier is the result of a joint venture between VietJet Air and Thailand's charter airline, Kan Air. The agreement was officially formalized with the sealing of the deal between the two companies late last month. It was witnessed by no less than Vietnam's Prime Minister.

According to Kan Air's President, Somphong Sooksanguan, his airline will hold the 51% stake of the joint venture and VietJet Air will take up the remaining shares.

The entry of Thai VietJet Air in Thailand is another addition to the country's booming aviation industry following the entry of AirAsia X and Lion Air lately.

AirAsia has long been operating in Thailand since 2003 through its local subsidiary, Thai AirAsia, which is also a joint venture with a Thai local partner.

AirAsia X is a long-haul brand of the Malaysia-based budget leader which is set to establish a base in Thailand. The Lion Air, meanwhile, is Indonesia's largest low-cost carrier.

Thailand has attracted quite a handful of foreign-based airlines lately to set up joint ventures with local counterparts. The country's Civil Aviation Department states that a foreign investors can own up to 49% share of a joint venture with the local partner and should cough up an initial capital of 200 million baht.

Thai VietJet Air is planning to launch its maiden service in November to domestic destinations using two of its A320 jets. Inaugural routes include Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket and possibly beyond Thailand to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

VietJet Air was founded in 2007 and became the country's first privately-owned carrier. It didn't launch its maiden flights until December 2011 or four years behind schedule after numerous delays.

The airline launched its first international route out of Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok, Thailand in February this year and subsequently opened another route last month to the Thai capital, this time, from Hanoi.

Thai VietJet Air is another addition to the growing aviation-related business of Somphong Sooksanguan, who owns the Kannithi Aviation Company Limited, which, in turn, operates Kan Air.

Sooksanguan is building a small airport in Koh Phangan, an island in the Gulf of Thailand, for his brainchild, Kan Air.

He has already assembled a local team in preparation to the launching of Thai VietJet Air's inaugural service in November this year, consisting of 30 cabin crew, eight pilots and a host of aviation engineers.

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