Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of AAV and Thai AirAsia, remarked that AAV’s earnings in Q2/2015 continued to be satisfactory, indicating that Thailand’s tourism sector, while depressed by political matters last year, has rebounded. During the second quarter, Thai AirAsia served 3.54 million passengers with an average Load Factor of 80 percent, up 2 percentage points compared with the same period last year. At the end of the first half of the year, Thai AirAsia served 7.24 million passengers, an increase of 22 percent compared with the same period last year. Its fleet stands at 43 Airbus A 320 aircraft with 2 more scheduled to be delivered during the latter half of the year, bringing the total to 45 aircraft as planned for 2015.
On top of its satisfactory operating performance, AirAsia Group was also able to maintain its title as the World’s Best Low Cost Airline for a seventh consecutive year (2009-2015) on the Sky Trax Awards ranking as voted by travelers from across the globe as Thai AirAsia (FD) was voted “Best Airline” by over 5.56 million Chinese users of website Weibo for its ‘The Best of Thailand Voted by Chinese Tourists’ as organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Mr. Tassapon voiced confidence that Thai AirAsia will be able to operate according to its plans for the second half of the year, affirming that the airline has not been impacted by the ICAO’s decision to audit the Civil Aviation Department of Thailand. He noted a continued strong reception for the airline in China and made known that Thai AirAsia will be seeking new opportunities through the opening of a new flight base at ”U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport”, which will serve direct flights to China. Mr. Tassapon commented that the addition will allow Thai AirAsia to penetrate the eastern travel market, especially Pattaya, which is a popular destination among Chinese travelers and has great growth potential. The airline will also be adding a new route between Bangkok (Don Mueang) and Bangalore, leading it into the Indian market, which apart from China is to be one of the company’s main markets. The new route will begin service on 1 September 2015.
Mr. Tassapon has also affirmed that by the end of this year, Thai AirAsia will have adhered to its plan to have a fleet of 45 Airbus A 320 aircraft and that the airline has targeted 14.5 million passengers served. He noted that if the overall travel situation in Thailand remains as vibrant as it currently is, Thai AirAsia will very likely see highly satisfactory returns.
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