AirAsia, a Southeast Asian low cost carrier, is launching new domestic and international routes. It is also ready to bring in new Airbus A320 planes, hoping to spur Thailand’s tourism.
Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia, said that in the first quarter of 2012 AirAsia is flying to three new destinations with two on domestic routes and one on an international route. The new domestic routes include daily direct flights between Bangkok and Trang, and the other is between Bangkok and Nakhon Phanom. The international route is between Bangkok and Sri Lanka (Colombo). Furthermore, this year the company plans to put brand new Airbus A320 planes on various routes throughout the year. The new planes will fly to new destinations both in the country and abroad, including China and new major economies. The Airbus A320s will also serve an increase in flight frequencies in most popular destinations, thus helping stimulate Thai economy through tourism expansion.
For the three new destinations, the Bangkok – Trang route has been launched since 15 January 2012. The Bangkok – Nakhon Phanom route will kick off on 15 February 2012 and will complement the recent opening of the third Thai – Lao Friendship Bridge linking Nakhon Phanom with Khammouan province in Laos. The daily direct flight Bangkok – Sri Lanka (Colombo) will start on 1 March 2012, linking the two economies, particularly in term of tourism. As Sri Lanka is the country of origin of Theravada school of Buddhism, AirAsia believes that the Bangkok – Colombo route would be popular among Thais.
Source: http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255502030024
