Regional Round-Up
VietJet eyes Thai subsidiary
July 1st 2013
There are reports that Vietnam’s first privately-owned airline, low-cast carrier (LCC) VietJet Air, wants to set up a subsidiary in Thailand as it seeks to expand its reach with the imminent arrival of Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) open skies in 2015. Read More »
VietJet Air operates six A320 jets, mostly on domestic routes. It has only two international routes, both to Thailand, Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok and Hanoi-Bangkok. It has orders in place for 20 more A320s.
Sources said talks are underway between Ho Chi Minh City-based VietJet Aviation and Somphong Sooksanguan, president of Thai commuter airline, Kan Air, to form Thai VietJet Air. Somphong would own 51% of the carrier, with the remainder owned by VietJet, which was launched in December 2011. It is understood Thai VietJet Air wants to begin services within six months with two A320s.
Meanwhile one of Thailand’s major travel agencies, H.I.S., is launching a charter operator later this month. The company said Asia Atlantic Airways would begin commercial services on July 19 with daily flights from Bangkok to Tokyo’s Narita airport, followed by Bangkok-Osaka services on July 27.
H.I.S. said it planned to be operating 20 aircraft within five years. It is considering destinations in South Korea and China from Bangkok, starting in October, and to Russia and Indonesia at a later date.
