Thailand Travel News: While the international tourism industry might be somewhat depressed at the moment, it isn’t preventing low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia from planning for the future.

Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia believes that within two years the airline will have 25 Airbus A320s in it’s fleet and that within five years the split between it’s domestic and international business will increase from the current 50:50 ratio to 70:30 – with the majority of flights operating on international routes.

As part of its bullish growth plans the airline is eyeing any city within four hours flying time of Thailand, though Mr Tassapon said out of respect to local private carrier Bangkok Airways, it was not considering flying in to Siem Reap, Cambodia, or Luang Prabang, Laos.

While both of these routes enjoy good patronage, especially from tourists, Mr Tassapon said the two sectors were not a priority for Thai AirAsia.

The comments from Mr Tassapon came as the discount carrier prepares to commence flights from its new regional hub on the the southern island province of Phuket to Hong Kong and from Phuket to Jakarta in mid-November.

These two new sectors will be followed in December by flights from Phuket to Chiang Mai, Phuket to Medan, Indonesia, and Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with planning also well advanced for the introduction of regular flights from Bangkok to Mumbai, India, possibly also commencing in December.

In order to meet the demand the new sectors are expected to generate, Mr Tassapon said Thai AirAsia will take delivery of two new A320s later this year and eight more next year, allowing it to phase out six Boeing 737s currently in its fleet and increasing its capacity by 20 percent.

By: John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for October 31, 2009