Thai Lion sustains expansion

The aggressive network expansion of Thai Lion Air (TLA) is gathering pace, with five new routes set for launch in the next several weeks. Three of the five routes are international and two are domestic. All originate from the low-cost carrier's (LCC) Don Mueang airport hub in Bangkok. The cities for new scheduled flights include Nanchang and Nanjing, both in China; Hanoi in Vietnam; and Khon Kaen and Phitsanulok, said industry insiders. These new services come on the heels of four recent route launches: Bangkok-Chongqing, Bangkok-Chengdu, Bangkok-Trang and Chiang Mai-Surat Thani. The new wave of launches will start with the debut of Bangkok-Khon Kaen on March 17 with 13 flights a week. It will be followed by the introduction of TLA's second Vietnamese route, to the capital Hanoi, on March 24 with eight flights a week. The airline is intensifying its China strategy this year with at least two new routes looming large on its radar screen. The Chinese cities of Jiangsu and Kunming are likely to be TLA's next destinations in the near future as the airline sees travel demand from secondary cities in the mainland to Thailand, one of China's top foreign destinations. <br/>