THAI Smile, the new regional subsidiary of Thai Airways International (THAI), has taken delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A320.
The new narrow-body aircraft will be configured with 174 seats, and will be put into service on 7 July on flights between Bangkok and Macau. Future domestic routes will include Krabi, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani and Phuket.
“We are delighted to take delivery of our brand new Airbus A320.” said Woranate Laprabang, Managing Director of THAI Smile. “THAI Smile will be able to service the market gap between low-cost and full service airlines.”
The aircraft is the first of 11 A320s which will be delivered to the airline by mid-2015. The first six aircraft are being leased from SMBC Aviation Capital, while the remaining five will be purchased directly from Airbus.
THAI Smile’s launch route, Bangkok-Macau, will operate twice a day from 7 July. Following this on 16 August, the airline will add daily flights to Chiang Mai, twice daily services to Surat Thai – the gateway to Koh Samui – and four daily services to Krabi. Them from 16 September THAI Smile will boost its Bangkok-Chiang Mai service to double daily, while adding four daily flights to Phuket – two from Bangkok and two from Chiang Mai.
