Thai AirAsia (TAA) has bolstered its leadership in Thailand's domestic air travel business with a further gain in market share last year.
TAA increased its share of total domestic passenger traffic to 29.5% last year, up from 28.5% the previous year, to reflect its aggressive expansion.
Arch rival Nok Air ranked second, with its market share slipping to 20.3% from 24.8% in 2015 as the budget airline experienced market turbulence.
The most critical event for Nok Air was a pilot shortage, triggered by the February exodus of pilots after a bitter organisational dispute that led to a mass cancellation of flights and dented the carrier's reputation.
Thai Lion Air (TLA) increased its share to 18.7% from 13.9% as the subsidiary of Indonesia's Lion Group strengthened its position, according to combined figures from Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) and Department of Airports, the two state-controlled airport operators.
THAI Smile, a wholly-owned sister airline of Thai Airways International (THAI), increased its share to 10.5% from 8.7%.
Witnessing a decline in market share for 2016 were Bangkok Airways and THAI, both full-service carriers. Bangkok Airways shrank to 11% in 2016 from 12.3%, while THAI's market share dropped to 9.1% to 11%.
But other operators such as commuter airline Kan Air grew its 2016 share to 0.9% from 0.3%.
Market share figures underscore that no-frills carriers have been the transport of choice for domestic air travel, leaving only about 20% of market share to legacy airlines that dominated Thai skies before low-cost carriers (LCC) started here 14 years ago.
Low fares, which are the selling point of LCCs, have become most relevant for domestic flyers, while LCCs' more comprehensive route coverage has also been a plus point.
TAA chief executive Tassapon Bijleveld said TAA is likely to increase its market share this year to 30%. That is in line with TAA's target to carry 19.5 million passengers this year, up from a projected 17 million in 2016.
The airline plans to add six new aircraft to its Airbus 320 fleet, for a total of 56, while sustaining an average load factor of 84%. TAA now operates to 20 Thai cities on 32 routes.
TAA executives said the airline averages a 1% annual gain in market share.
Mr Tassapon said the battle for market share would become more dramatic between Nok Air and TLA, whose market positions moved closer to each other in 2016.
Last year passengers flying domestic LCC routes through AoT-operated airports grew 18.6% to 35.5 million.