TAAX ready to spread its wings to India and China

Thai AirAsia X, Thailand's first long-haul budget airline, plans to add two more wide-body jets and spread its wings to India and China. The expansion could take place in the second half of the year after a hopeful resolution of the aviation safety fiasco involving the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) red-flagging Thailand last June. "We are not sitting idle but preparing a growth plan that could be triggered once the red flag is removed," TAAX chief executive Nadda Buranasiri told the Bangkok Post. Until then, the airline will continue to focus on existing services from Bangkok to Narita, Osaka, Incheon and Shanghai. TAAX, like most Thailand-registered airlines, is largely in a mode of retreat or maintaining the status quo because of restrictions imposed by some countries in accordance with the punitive guidelines established by the UN aviation auditor. The essence of the ICAO's red-flagging means that Thailand-registered airlines are not allowed to open new routes, nor raise the frequency of existing flights to foreign countries, nor change aircraft types already deployed for current services. <br/>