Thai AirAsia to enter business of budget hotels

The low-cost carrier is stepping into the hotel business after parent company AirAsia opened several hotels in its home country of Malaysia. It will be the company's third business unit in addition to its airline and Go Holiday travel agency, the latter of which it set up last year.

Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said the company was negotiating with investors to develop low-cost hotels in Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai and other tourist destinations. The first property should open this year in the South.

Thai AirAsia has been operating for four years and served 10 million passengers. The airline will focus on the continuing upgrade of its fleet and services and the establishment of a training centre for aeronautical engineers.

"This year, we expect to be not only the fastest-growing airline, but also the best airline in terms of service," Tassapon said.

This year, five new Airbus A320 aircraft will join the airline's fleet, with another five A320s scheduled for delivery next year. These aircraft are part of an order placed earlier for 40 A320s, all scheduled for delivery by 2012 from Toulouse, France.

Tassapon said the airline would be returning some Boeing 737-300 aircraft to their lessors this year as part of its fleet upgrade.

The airline will change its fleet composition from three Airbus A320s and 12 Boeing 737-300s to eight A320s and seven 737-300s this year. The change will allow the airline to fly more passengers, because of the larger seating capacity on the new aircraft.

Thai AirAsia will also soon open a training centre for aeronautical engineers, in order to support the airline's growth. It has already successfully launched a pilot-training programme with the Bangkok Aviation Centre.

The airline will also train engineers to help it apply safety policies. It will start accepting applications for its course this year.

The airline has finished training 40 cadet pilots who will become captains in the next five years.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation