​Thai Smile aims for first codeshare partner in early 2020

Thai Smile hopes to secure its first code share partner under the Star Alliance connecting partner programme in the first quarter of 2020. The plan for the THAI unit is to better connect it with Thai's partners globally, says Krittaphon Chantalitanon, vice-president of alliances and commercial strategy at Thai. He adds that it is too early to say who the first codeshare partner will be, and that there is still some testing and work to be done before the carrier starts codesharing. At the recent IATA annual general meeting in Seoul, Star Alliance announced that the Thai unit would become the alliance's second connecting partner. Star's first connecting partner was Juneyao Airlines, which joined in May 2017. While passengers of Thai can transfer to Thai Smile for onward flights from the pair's Bangkok Suvarnabhumi hub, Thai Smile has no other codeshare partners. Cirium schedules data shows that 13 Star Alliance carriers, including Thai, operate to Suvarnabhumi. Of these, three have codeshare relationships with Bangkok Airways, which operates domestic flights: Thai, EVA Air, and Austrian.<br/>