Jump to content
MalaysianWings - Malaysia's Premier Aviation Portal
Sign in to follow this  
Y. J. Foo

Thai Smile

Recommended Posts

Thai Tiger officially and finally dropped, pressuring Tiger to look elsewhere for growth

 

Thai Tiger, the proposed joint-venture between Thai Airways and the Singapore-based Tiger Airways that has been languishing for months, is finally being recognised by Tiger as over. This acknowledgement continues the pressure on Tiger Airways to find bases for aircraft it planned to deploy with Thai Tiger as well as a number of other projects that have languished as well. The impact of these non-starts is evident at Tiger Airways Singapore, which last month announced a large loss for the quarter ending 30-Sep-2011 as it failed to absorb the large capacity Tiger put in after having nowhere else to deploy it to.

 

Thai Airways, Tiger Airways and Ryanthai initially signed an MOU in Aug-2010 and a shareholders' agreement in Feb-2011 establishing Thai Tiger. But the proposed start-up has since endured multiple setbacks as it waited for Thai government approval that never eventuated.

 

Thai Tiger was all but dead in Sep-2011 when Thai Airways announced it would not extend the JV contract, which was due to expire in Oct-2011. Thai Airways executives have since repeatedly said it was no longer moving forward with Thai Tiger, which was to operate regional international routes following an ultra low-cost model, and was instead focusing on increasing its involvement in domestic LCC Nok Air and launching hybrid regional low-cost carrier Thai Smile.

 

Despite this, Tiger Airways refused to confirm the project was dead until this week, when the carrier finally put out a statement saying Tiger, Thai and Ryanthai "have, today (7-Dec-2011), decided not to proceed with the incorporation of Thai Tiger".

 

Read more: http://www.centreforaviation.com/blogs/aviation-blog/thai-tiger-officially-and-finally-dropped-pressuring-tiger-to-look-elsewhere-for-growth-64322

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thai Air Considering New Budget Airline

 

May 18, 2012

 

Thai Airways may set up a new budget carrier to tap strong demand in the regional no-frills sector and the group is on track to achieve its net profit target this year after a strong first quarter, its president said on Friday.

 

The Thai flag carrier, facing increasing regional competition from bigger rivals such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways, has reduced flights on some loss-making routes in Europe and focused on profitable destinations in Asia.

 

"We are joining with Nok Air to study a new ultra-low-cost airline," the airline's president, Piyasvasti Amranand, said in an interview, referring to its 49-percent-owned budget airline unit. "Nok Air will focus on domestic routes and we need another one to tap strong demand from this sector."

 

Thai Airways also aims to launch a new mid-range airline called Thai Smile on July 7, as part of a revamp after years of losing market share in Asia, where other airlines have benefited from expanding middle classes and fast economic growth.

 

Last year, the airline terminated plans for a joint venture budget airline with Singapore's Tiger Airways after it failed to secure approval from the Thai government.

 

Rising passenger numbers and yields plus cost controls helped the airline make a January-March net profit of THB3.6 billion baht, up almost 500 percent from a year earlier and compared to a loss of THB5.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

 

"We are confident we will achieve our profit target of THB6 billion baht this year after a strong performance in the first quarter," Piyasvasti, 59, a former energy minister, said.

 

The strong first quarter has prompted Thai Airways to delay the sale of a THB3.5 billion baht bond, initially planned for June, to the end of 2012, Piyasvasti said.

 

He was not sure if the airline would make a profit in the second quarter, usually the low season for air traffic in Thailand, but expected good earnings in the third quarter.

 

Piyasvasti, who took the helm in October 2009 to overhaul the 50 year old carrier, said passenger yield had improved in the second quarter as most of the low-price tickets sold in a promotional campaign late last year had now been used.

 

Cabin factor, the percentage of seats sold, was at 78 percent in April, the highest in five years, and at about 72 percent in the first five months of 2012, he said.

 

"The change in marketing strategy has boosted yield," he said, adding the airline used smaller planes to serve European routes, where the economic crisis would affect air travel, while demand from Asian routes was expected to rise 30 percent from last year.

 

The airline aimed to cut costs of THB4 billion baht this year, or 2 percent of its expenses, and it has hedged about 80 percent of estimated fuel usage to offset the volatility of global oil prices, Piyasvasti said.

 

It had a hedging gain of about THB1.3 billion baht in the first four months of this year, he said. Fuel accounts for about 40 percent of Thai Air's operating costs.

 

Thai Airways is on track to take delivery of three Airbus A380s in late 2012 and another three in 2013 and aims to expand its total fleet to 109 planes in the next seven years from 90 now, Piyasvasti said.

(Reuters)

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Being Dutch, I really like their orange outfit (same as Firefly)...well done Thai Smile !!! :pardon:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

New regional air services to start operations in July with all-Airbus fleet

 

800x600_1341207285_A320_THAI_SMILE.JPG

 

2 July 2012 Press Release

THAI Smile, the new light premium regional sub-brand of Thai Airways International (THAI), has taken delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A320, in Hamburg, Germany on Friday 28th June. The delivery sees the THAI group become a new operator of the A320 Family, which joins an existing fleet of widebody Airbus aircraft flying with the airline.

 

Seating 174 passengers, the aircraft are powered by IAE V2527-A5 engines. The Bangkok-based carrier will start regional operations on 7th July with daily flights to Macau, before flying domestically to Krabi, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani and Phuket. These will be followed by new routes to more international destinations.

 

"We are delighted to take delivery of our brand new Airbus A320.” said Mr Woranate Laprabang, Managing Director of THAI Smile. “Thanks to the A320’s cabin comfort and operational reliability, THAI Smile will be able to service the market gap between low-cost and full service airlines.”

 

"We are very pleased to welcome THAI Smile as a new A320 operator.” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. “With its wide cabin, quick turn-around times and unbeatable operating costs, the A320 will be the perfect platform for THAI to build its new light premium product.”

 

The aircraft is the first of 11 A320s which will be delivered by mid-2015. The first six aircraft are being leased from SMBC Aviation Capital. The company’s CEO, Peter Barrett, said: “This is our first transaction with THAI Smile, and we look forward to building a close relationship with them in the coming years. The fact that we now own and manage 69 A320s and have a further 45 on order is a clear reflection of the high regard in which we and our customers hold this outstanding aircraft.”

 

The remaining five aircraft are directly purchased from Airbus andwill be equipped with new “Sharklet" wing tip devices, which will deliver up to 3.5 percent in fuel savings.

 

THAI is one of Airbus’ longest standing customers. The A320 joins an Airbus fleet at THAI which currently includes the A300, A330 and A340, with the A380 set to enter service with the carrier later this year. THAI will also be an operator of the all-new A350 XWB.

 

The A320 Family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line. To date, more than 8,400 aircraft have already been ordered and some 5,100 delivered to more than 360 customers and operators worldwide. With proven reliability and extended servicing periods, the A320 Family has the lowest operating costs of any single-aisle aircraft.

 

Source: Airbus

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When did Thai Smile start their ops to KUL?

 

Saw their A320 at satellite building today, Sunday 28-5-13 around noon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When did Thai Smile start their ops to KUL?

 

Saw their A320 at satellite building today, Sunday 28-5-13 around noon.

April this year with 4 flights a week. Will increase to daily coming October. Edited by Isaac

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...