The planned expansion of Thai VietJet Air (TVJA), held back by the now-removed red flag on Thailand's aviation safety, is about to take off.
The growth plan of the Thai offshoot of the Vietnamese low-cost carrier group VietJet Air will be set into motion upon the completion of re-certification of its licence by Thai authorities shortly.
TVJA chief executive Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh unveiled an aggressive plan that includes expansion of international network, fleet enlargement and boosting passenger volumes.
Introducing more connections between Thailand and Vietnam is the immediate priority, followed by introducing new routes to Asean and then China, she told the Bangkok Post.
The airline will also start adding 8-10 Airbus A320 series jets to its fleet every year starting next year. The aim is to double the numbers of passengers carried to more than 2 million next year, from 1 million targeted this year.
"Having our Air Operator Certificate [AOC] recertified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand [CAAT] really allows us to activate our growth plan," Ms Binh said.
TJVA is next in line among ten remaining Thai-registered airlines that have yet to see their AOCs reissued by CAAT, banning them from flying overseas.
Eleven Thai-registered airlines, mostly major passenger carriers with scheduled services including Thai Airways International and Thai AirAsia, were able to obtain the re-certified AOCs by the Aug 31 deadline.
The CAAT banned Thai operators from operating internationally to appease the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as part of efforts to remove the red flag placed on Thai civil aviation authority for "significant safety concerns" in June 2015.
The UN aviation watchdog confirmed the red flag removal to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Oct 9.
Ms Binh said TVJA plans to introduce new routes from its Suvarnabhumi airport base to Da Nang, Dalat and Phu Quoc starting next month, pending regulatory approval.
This will represent a relaunch of TVJA's international service after it transferred the right to operate the Bangkok-Hai Phong route to its parent airline for the past two months due to the restrictions imposed by CAAT on AOC recertification.
Technically TVJA is a Thai domestic flight operator with three domestic routes -- Bangkok-Phuket, Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Phuket-Chiang Rai.
Ms Binh said TVJA's second priority is to introduce flights from Thailand to the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar, according to Ms Binh.
Southern China will come next as TVJA wants to capitalise in on the growing tourist traffic from the mainland to Thailand within a five-hour flight radius.
She noted that there is strong potential traffic demand between Thailand and Vietnam, "because we see that there are so many people waiting for us [to launch]."
TVJA's fourth A320 single-aisle jet is due to join its fleet, comprising A320s alone, next month to commence the fleet expansion plan.
The 8-10 aircraft expected to join TVJA's fleet next year may also include the A321, the stretched-fuselage variant of baseline A320, according to the Vietnamese executive.
Ms Binh said TVJA hopes to start making profit sooner than the next three years of expected losses.
The expansion will mean that TVJA will double its Thai workforce from the current 300 employees, she said.
Meanwhile, parent Vietjet Air is boosting connections between Thailand and Vietnam with two new routes linking Ho Chi Minh City (HCM) with Chiang Mai and Phuket, starting on Dec 12 and Dec 15, respectively.
It will operate four flights a week on the two new routes using A320s.
The two new air links will boost Vietjet's routes in Thailand to five, adding to Hanoi-Bangkok, HCM-Bangkok and Hai Phong-Bangkok.