It is planned that the renamed airline - which has registered capital of Bt200 million - will cover four routes from Bangkok to Ranong, Buri Ram, Chiang Mai and Phuket with two B737 aircraft.

Its main shareholders, Angkana Apiwattanaporn and manager of Phuket Air Vokrim Aisiri, also submitted an application for another airline named Holiday Airline, to fly to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo, using three B747s.

Phuket Air was hit recently by a series of negative reports from customers following apparent security mishaps.

Civil Aviation Department director-general Chaisak Angkasuwan said Suvarnabhumi Airline was one of the eight applicants for new licences.

"We are asking the company to change the name because Suvarnabhumi is the name of the new airport and it is also the name bestowed by His Majesty the King," Chaisak said.

Among the other six applicants is Prathip Boonprasom, the major shareholder of the defunct Air Andaman, which ceased trading two years ago. Prathip is planning his comeback with German Hubert Joseph Trunser and Swiss Bernan Luthee in the joint venture Asian Aerospace Service.

The new airline aims to run chartered flights from Bangkok with two Jetstream aircraft.

The fourth applicant is Sky Star Airway, a joint Thai (51 per cent) and South Korean (49 per cent) venture, that plans flights from Bangkok to Shanghai three times a week, five flights to Beijing, and five to Taipei.

Siam Express Airway, the fifth applicant, hopes to fly to Seoul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Min City.

Sky Star Airway and Siam Express Airway's foreign ownership are both 49 per cent, exactly meeting the legal limit, Chaisak said.

The sixth application comes from Thai-owned AS Aviation, which aims to fly air taxis and charter flights for business, using three small aircraft.

SEE Sky, the seventh applicant, wants to run non-scheduled flights for advertisers.

The eighth is Air Mark Aviation Thailand, which is set to offer scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

The department has approved 33 civil aviation licences so far, but seven of these will be withdrawn, including those of Air Andaman, Thai Pacific, Thai Jet and Thai Air Cargo.

"We are opening the business in accordance with the open-sky policy. But we have applied strict rules in screening the applicants to ensure proper control," the director-general said.

Chaisak added that the eight applicants would submit operating plans, including details of aircraft maintenance, pilots, routes and registered capital.

"They are subject to thorough checks before the applications are forwarded to the transport minister," he said.

He also said Thai AirAsia could continue in business despite Singapore's Temasek Holdings' takeover of its major shareholder - Shin Corp - as the corporation's current foreign ownership stood at 45 per cent and hence was below the legal limit, based on data from Thailand Securities Depository.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation