Five new Thai airlines to start flying next year

Thai nationals are launching five new airlines with a total investment of at least 3.85 billion baht, expecting to start commercial operations in 2024, eyeing a piece of Thailand’s growing aviation market which is estimated to reach 320 billion baht in value next year.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), the five new airlines that have been granted the Air Operating Licence (AOL) are: Really Cool Airlines, P80 Air, Pattaya Airways, Siam Seaplane and Landarch Airlines.

These airlines will have to wait for the CAAT to approve their Air Operator Certificate (AOC) before they can fly commercially in Thailand.

Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of Really Cool Airlines, said that the airline expected to receive an AOC in January next year and start flying from the second quarter.

He said that in the first two years of operation, Really Cool Airlines would focus on Asian routes such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai with four Airbus A330-300 aircrafts.

With an initial crew of 130, the company will test the market with chartered flights during March to May next year, then switch to regular flights and later expand to European markets.

“We would not compete with Thai Airways International on their regular routes but would focus on flights to secondary cities, which would also help further promote Thailand’s tourism industry,” he said.

Patee added that Really Cool would also be the world first’s airline that delivers passenger luggage to their doors. “We are planning to invest some 1 billion baht in products and services under Rally Cool brands, such as Really Cool Taxi, Really Cool Medical, and Really Cool Cargo,” he said.

Meanwhile, P80 Air spokesman Sorakrit Wannala said that the company expected to get its AOC in the next 8-9 months and start commercial operation in the last quarter of next year.

In the first two years of operation, P80 Air would fly mostly to secondary cities in China using four Boeing B737-800 NG aircrafts, he said.

P80 Air is a subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies Pcl, a maritime logistics arm of Mahagitsiri Group. The company reportedly has invested over 2 billion baht in the airline business, of which 500 million baht have been spent in establishing a new airline.

Thossaporn Usanee, president of Pattaya Group, said that Pattaya Airways planned to take to the skies in the fourth quarter of 2024, providing full-scale aviation transport on both domestic and Asean destinations.

Pattaya Airways will use an ATR72 aircraft for cargo delivery in the first three years before adding three more planes to serve the growing demand of cargo delivery from e-commerce operators, he added.

A news source reported that Siam Seaplane was looking to add amphibian planes of the Cessna Caravan 208 model to its fleet to serve high-end customers visiting seaside resorts and ports in Thailand. The airline’s first route will be the famous Ko Lipe in Satun province, where amphibian planes can shorten the commute time to the island to just 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, Landarch Airlines will operate short chartered flights between major cities in southern provinces, starting from April 2024, according to a source.

The airline’s centre would be in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, where it would procure five Cessna C208 B, 12-seaters aircraft within the first five years. Landarch Airlines will expand its fleet to 15 aircraft in following years, targeting destinations in other provinces as well.

Source - The Nation

Thousands STRANDED as Jetstar cancels flights

Jetstar is desperately working to get its planes back in the air after engineering issues forced the company to ground almost half of its fleet, leaving thousands of Australians stranded overseas.
The budget airline confirmed that, by the end of Tuesday, four of its 11 long haul Boeing 787 Dreamliners would be grounded to undergo emergency repairs.

One plane will return to service later this week with two more 787s to take to the skies next week, leaving only one plane out of operation.

A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the fleet had been impacted by ‘a number of issues’, including a lightning strike, a collision with a bird, damage from an item on the runway and issues sourcing a part from the US.

‘The team is working hard to return these aircraft to service as quickly as possible however, safety remains our first priority,’ they said.

It’s understood more than 4,000 passengers have spent extra time in Bali after seeing their return flights with Jetstar either cancelled or delayed.  For the latest stories follow Bangkok Jack News on Twitter.

Some of those passengers were forced to wait up to five days to be put on another flight while others paid thousands of dollars to travel home with a different airline.

One woman from Melbourne, Meagan Mulder, said she, her husband and their two kids had a seven-hour delay in getting home, but the situation was much worse for the friends they’d travelled with around the Indonesian country.

‘We had 12 friends who were on the midnight flight (on Sunday) night, they had their flight cancelled, they can’t get another flight anywhere for seven people until Friday this week, so they’ve had to get more accommodation and everything,’ she told NCA Newswire.

Other friends she knew ended up spending $10,000 to fly via Kuala Lumpur with another airline.

Similar issues have been seen in Thailand with one woman from Brisbane due to fly home with her husband and two kids from Phuket on Saturday night only to find out their flight had been cancelled.

The family was told the next available flight was on September 12 – nine days after their original return trip, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

For those stranded overseas, passengers will be given $150 per hotel room by Jetstar and $30 per person for food.

‘Our teams are working hard to get passengers on their way as soon as possible – we are putting on five special services to bring people home and booking seats on Qantas flights also,’ a Jetstar spokesperson said.

Flight credits or refunds have also been offered.

Source - BangkokJack

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