Thai AirAsia keeps wings
Thai AirAsia Co Ltd has narrowly escaped having the company’s aviation licence revoked after Shin Corp Plc transferred its 50-per-cent stake in the company to a new subsidiary called Asia Aviation Co Ltd and avoided breaking the statutory limit of 49 percent for foreign ownership in a Thai firm.
Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of the Aviation Department, said that Shin would hold a 49-per-cent stake in the new company, while Sithichai Veerathammanoon emerges as the other shareholder with 51 per cent.Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld, who owns 1 per cent of Thai AirAsia, said “wealthy” Sithichai was in the courier business working for DHL. “He was my senior at Assumption University. But this deal has been arranged by Khun Boonklee Plangsiri [CEO of Shin Corp],” Tassapon said. Chaisak said: “We are satisfied with this. I don’t know who Sithichai is or if somebody has nominated him. As a regulator, we have to make sure that the licensee is a Thai national.” The low-cost airline is one of the units under Shin, which has been under pressure to change its shareholder structure following the acquisition of Shin by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. Malaysia’s AirAsia already owns 49 per cent of Thai AirAsia, and Temasek’s indirect stake in the Thai carrier via its purchase of Shin has therefore raised foreign ownership in Thai AirAsia above the statutory limit of 49 per cent. The Aviation Department told Thai AirAsia to solve this problem within two weeks or see its aviation licence revoked. The Thai AirAsia case has sparked concerns that other subsidiaries of Shin – particularly Shin Satellite Plc, iTV Plc and Advanced Info Service Plc – would experience a similar incident. All these companies are operating with concessions, which were issued only to Thai entities. Suchat Sritama The Nation
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