Thai AirAsia seeks elbow room

Thai AirAsia is facing a crunch in network expansion both at home and in neighbouring countries. Currently, there are virtually no domestic airports capable of handling its Airbus 320 jet with 180 seats where the country's largest low-cost carrier can extend its service. All the larger Thai airports have already been made TAA ports of call, while all of the trunk routes, including Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket, are being served at maximum capacity. Meanwhile, new destinations with visible traffic potential in neighbouring countries are increasingly hard to find, largely due to the carrier's aggressive expansion in the past. This poses a significant challenge for TAA, which continues to pursue a growth plan with 5-6 brand-new A320 jets being added to its fleet annually, reaching 56 by year-end, said commercial director Santisuk Klongchaiya. One of the marketing initiatives being adopted to address the constraints that is gaining traction is establishing new domestic inter-regional routes bypassing Bangkok. TAA Wednesday announced the launch of two new inter-regional connections from U-tapao airport in Rayong to Phuket and Ubon Ratchathani, both commencing on March 30 this year on a daily basis. The introduction of the two routes brings the number of TAA's domestic inter-regional routes to 13. <br/>