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Within Thailand itself, it is connecting
more Tier II destinations to Bangkok as
well as to each other, helping to stimulate
tourism in lesser-known destinations. New
domestic routes include Pattaya–Phuket,
Pattaya–Ubon Ratchathani, Chiang
Mai–Ubon Ratchathani and Khon Khaen–
Phuket.
Going forward, our affiliate plans to
receive another seven aircraft in 2018,
which will provide it with the capacity to
further expand its network and increase
frequencies of popular routes. Based on
strong demand from India, Indochina and
other Asean countries, these will be target
destinations as it diversifies its network
for revenue and business sustainability.
At the same time, it will be building its
domestic connectivity and, in line with the
general AirAsia strategy, add more under-
served Tier II locations to its network.
In true AirAsia fashion, our affiliate has
also been expanding its route network.
Internationally, following a couple of
years of intense focus on increasing its
presence in China – partly in response
to a spike in demand for China outbound
tourism to Thailand – it is looking to
deepen its network in India and Asean.
With existing skybridges to Chennai,
Bengaluru, Kolkata and Kochi partially
contributing to the overall 18% increase
in tourist arrivals from the Indian
subcontinent year-on-year, AirAsia
Thailand launched new routes from
Bangkok to Jaipur, in Rajasthan, as well
as to Tiruchirappalli (or Trichy) in Tamil
Nadu. Strengthening its Indochinese
connections, meanwhile, it also launched
Bangkok–Da Nang. And tapping into
another global tourist magnet, it
introduced daily Bangkok-Maldives flights
starting from June.
In this respect, our affiliate is fortunate
in that it also has the government’s
support to do so. The government itself
has ambitions to promote 55 secondary
provinces that have been identified.
Among these is Ranong, also known as
the City of Onsen due to its hot springs. To
bring this gem along the Andaman coast
to the world traveller’s attention, AirAsia
Thailand established the first Bangkok–
Ranong route which became operational
in February 2018.
In other words, our affiliate has a clear
plan for 2018. It also has some clear
targets, such as maintaining its load factor
at 87% and putting smiles on the faces of
23.2 million guests by making their travel
dreams come true. All going well, these
targets will be met, putting a smile on
AirAsia Thailand too.
1st
LOW-COST AIRLINE
RE-CERTIFIED BY CAAT
ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
83
%
[ ]
AirAsia Group Berhad
BUSINESS REVIEW
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