reader Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 South Korea and Taiwan targets of the new service Excerpted from the Bangkok Post Thailand's aviation industry is set to welcome two new low-cost carriers next year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) on Monday. Thai Eastar Jet and Thai Summer Airways have obtained the required Air Operating Licences (AOL) and are currently in the process of obtaining their Air Operator Certificate (AOC), said CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop. The budget airlines will be the first two Thai-registered airliners to launch commercial services since Thailand was red-flagged by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) in June 2015 for failing to adequately deal with 33 "significant safety concerns" within a specified time frame. On Oct 6, 2017, the ICAO lifted the red flag, indicating that Thailand's aviation safety standards now meet international benchmarks. Mr Chula said Thai Eastar Jet's first commercial service will be between Bangkok and Taiwan's southern port city of Kaohsiung. The airlines is also planning to link Bangkok and South Korea, but plans for services have to be shelved for the time being as new flights to South Korea are affected by Thailand's Category 2 status imposed by the United States' Federal Aviation Administration since December 2015. The FAA said Thailand fell short across several categories, such as pilot qualifications and training. The government has set about trying to fix the flaws, but Thailand's status remains unchanged. Both airlines will be allowed to hire just Thai pilots, as the requirement to employ a certain number of foreign pilots has been removed, he said. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1822724/2-new-carriers-set-for-takeoff#cxrecs_s ================================================================================ From the Bangkok Post Thai Air Asia to add new routes A strong currency, higher operation costs from an excise tax and a slowdown in tourism are among the challenges confronting local airlines next year. Santisuk Klongchaiya, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said the airline business is hoping the volume of tourists rebounds if the government imposes effective measures to deal with the strident baht. He said controlling costs, finding supplementary income and managing efficient routes are tasks for airlines to keep afloat amid tough times. Next year, Thai AirAsia, the low-cost carrier owned by SET-listed Asia Aviation Plc (AAV), plans to add more routes to popular destinations in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. It will operate with 62 jets, including the 230-seat Airbus A321neo, a more energy-efficient aircraft to replace the 180-seat Airbus A320, which will be phased out from the fleet in the near future. The use of the bigger capacity Airbus A321neo will help with limited slot times at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, Mr Santisuk said. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1823044#cxrecs_s vinapu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggobkk Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 Thanks, reader for the updates on the status of Thailand's air worthiness. Hope with fingers crossed that the issues with the US FAA can be worked out...be nice to have a flight to Thailand without a lengthy stopover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reader Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 On 12/25/2019 at 2:33 PM, ggobkk said: Hope with fingers crossed that the issues with the US FAA can be worked out...be nice to have a flight to Thailand without a lengthy stopover. Certainly agree but it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. When the FAA inspected Thai operations in February it found 26 areas that failed to meet "Category 1" standards required to start new flights into or out of US. The most likely route Thai would seek first would probably be LAX-BKK which clocks in at 7,186 nautical miles (just over 16 hours duration). To do it, Thai would need something like the Airbus 350-ULR (ultra long range) type that has a max rage of 9,700 NM. The Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) equipment Thai currently has in its 80-aircraft fleet has a max range of 7,370 NM. That may be cutting it a bit close for comfort. https://thepointsguy.com/news/thai-airlines-wont-be-launching-flights-to-the-us-anytime-soon/ ggobkk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
