THAI to launch new budget airline

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THAI to launch new budget airline

Published: 20/05/2011 at 05:39 PM
Online news: Local News

The Thai Airways International (THAI) board on Friday approved a plan to establish a new budget airline to directly compete, head-on with AirAsia.

The creation of what is tentatively known as Thai Wings came as it became apparent that the flag carrier's bid to form a sister airline with Singapore-based no-frills carrier Tiger Airways is not seeing the light of the day.THAI chairman Ampon Kittiampon said Thai Wings will be established as part of a new business unit within THAI in a move engineered to ensure a speedy creation of the airline. The new budget Thai Wings is expected to start commercial services around March or April next year.It is a way to circumvent obstacles erected by the Transport Ministry which has held back approval for a flying licence for Thai Tiger Airways ever since THAI and Tiger Airways...

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rodsmith
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Discussion 7 : 09/07/2011 at 04:40 AM7
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The Australian air authorities have banned Tiger Airways from flying domestically for one month over safety concerns. Not a decision they would have made lightly. Thai transport authorities have not issued them an operators licence over technical shortcomings. Maybe the Thai transport authorities knew something the Australians took a lot longer to act upon.
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joe123x1
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Discussion 6 : 25/05/2011 at 11:19 PM6
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Thailand has no budget airline anyway, all airlines charge more or less the same and when they see the slightest possibility to milk the customer, they all do it. The only airline which is really a budget airline and is dedicated to the people is tiger airways, it tells everything that the authorities tried all tricks to keep them out. Are the Thai authorities serving the Thai people or are they here to push profits of the established by denying JV with foreign companies?
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wantmyony
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Discussion 5 : 20/05/2011 at 08:42 PM5
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Thailand does not have a market large enough to have so many budget airline domestically, not many can afford the price of air ticket. Thai-Tiger would have better chance of survival, the new Thai Wing airline will be clipped when so many self-interest group does not want competition. Its very expansive to fly domestic from bangkok to phuket, its much cheaper to fly bangkok to beijing. It will be bankrupt in less than 3 years.
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brownie
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Discussion 4 : 20/05/2011 at 08:41 PM4
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At this point, I think THAI's main task should be to improve its in-flight entertainment system and cabin crew services. I have taken THAI for the past 20 years and I must say that the cabin crew services are getting worse and worse. The ground staffs are ok though.

From my own opinion, I think the main cause of the decline in cabin crew service in recent years is because THAI has been hiring well-educated cabin crews with bachelor or master degrees due to fierce competition. These crews have high ego and would not give good services to local Thai passengers.

THAI's regional competitors such as SQ, CX, and EK are now way ahead in services. The reason is because they hire cabin crews from nationalities who are really proud of being a cabin crew.

It's better to fix the existing problem first than to move onto something new.
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rpt777
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Discussion 3 : 20/05/2011 at 06:41 PM3
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Thai Air just a few years ago was considered one of the better carriers in the world. Loss of government support financially has removed the advantage of not having to compete with private airlines. But the bigger problem is that as it is still partly government owned it is still a cesspool of interference and political crony jobs and corruption in procurement. If the government were to completely remove itself from the picture they would at least have a chance to return to one of the best in the world. Several US and European carriers looked into buying large stakes in the airline about 10 years ago to try to set up an Asian hub. They all uncovered so much government corruption and waste that they knew it could not possibly work and thus all walked away.
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bkkfarang1
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Discussion 2 : 20/05/2011 at 06:22 PM2
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Funny I thought Thai Airways was a budget Airline, poor In Flight entertainment very old planes but sky high prices. Also Nok Air was around as well owned by Thai. Good luck with the venture, you will need it others are far superior and are called 5 star airlines.
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phetpeter
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Discussion 1 : 20/05/2011 at 06:14 PM1
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Whats the point just offer competive low fares on the routes they have and bring in more routes, problems solved
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THAI to launch new budget airline | Bangkok Post: news