Thai AirAsia adding back idled jets amid China tourism restart

Thai AirAsia fplans to resume operations of eight aircraft that were idled during the pandemic and is considering shifting planes from other parts of the group to cater for the growing number of visitors from China. Asia Aviation Pcl, the operator of Thailand’s biggest low-cost airline, also expects improved earnings growth with the resumption of more flights to Chinese cities, CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya said Thursday. “Our advance bookings have demonstrated strong earnings momentum,” Santisuk said. “We may find a big challenge to expand seat capacity with demand from Chinese travelers. But seat shortages are a problem we’re happy to deal with.” Thai AirAsia currently has 53 jets in its fleet, he said. The carrier joins peers including Thai Airways International Pcl in scrambling to right-size their fleets to cater for a jump in tourists from China, which now allows people to come and go freely without quarantine. Thailand welcomed 11.2m foreign tourists in 2022, the highest number since Covid emerged in early 2020, and expects seven to 10m Chinese travelers to arrive by air this year, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said last month.<br/>