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Published on December 15, 2007

CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said Thai national artist for literature Naovarat Pongpaiboon and a Chiang Mai University junior were selected to promote its third new Airbus A320.

The new aircraft bears a striking Thai design created by Ekawich Ariyawong Sanukul, the fine-arts major who won the airline's Airbus-painting contest launched earlier this year. A poem composed by Naovarat is painted near the aircraft's door.

Tassapon said it was the first aircraft in the world to bear a design made by a Thai student. This is also the only aircraft in the world that bears a poem composed by a national artist especially for an airline.

"Both the visual design and the poem represent Thai-ness, innovation, professionalism and the airline's leadership in the industry," he said.

Thai AirAsia's third new Airbus A320 will be in service from next Monday.  It will serve routes connecting Bangkok to Hat Yai, Shenzhen and Macau. 

The airline's two other new Airbus A320s are already in service and fly between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Phuket, Penang, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Thai AirAsia is continuously replacing its leased Boeing 737-300s with new Airbus A320s. All the airline's flights will be served by new A320s by 2010.

Ekawich said his design was simple but presents Thai-ness by using local art forms. He was speaking after a visit to the Airbus assembly plant in Toulouse, France to learn about how parts of the aircraft are assembled and about the sophisticated technology used in aeronautics.

 The Nation