Nov. 06--Jet Asia Airways, the privately-owned Thai carrier that has flown international charter flights for just over a year, is gearing up for an expansion with scheduled services and doubling its fleet size.
The airline, founded in 2009 but little known to the public, is to launch its first scheduled operations with flights from its Phuket and Bangkok bases to as many as eight Chinese cities next month.
It also plans to reintroduce its daily scheduled charter flights between Bangkok and Narita in Japan and to launch charter flights between Bangkok and Incheon in South Korea and between Phuket and Busan in South Korea.
Jet Asia will take delivery of its fourth Boeing 767-200 jet this month and is planning to add four aircraft of the same series, two in the second half of next year and another two in 2014.
The expansion is part of a strategic plan to cash in on the fast-growing Asian markets, particularly China, South Korea and Japan, all within five to seven hours.
Jet Asia, owned by a group of Thai investors including a Chiang Mai hotelier and retired Royal Thai Air Force officers, took to the skies with a commercial charter flight from Bangkok to Penang in September last year.
In February, it started daily Bangkok-Narita service under a deal with its exclusive ticket distributor, H.I.S. Co, a Tokyo-based travel agency and tour operator. The deal ran until September.
Jet Asia, with paid-up capital of 250 million baht, has operated about 200 flights. It leased its B767 in August.
Five of the eight Chinese routes Jet Asia plans to launch next month on a scheduled basis will be from Phuket, with the others from Bangkok.
The airline has already operated charter flights from the resort island to six Chinese cities including Xian, Nanning, Chongqing and Nanjing.
"The Chinese are particularly fond of Phuket, making it less difficult to fill up plane seats," said managing director Thanabool Kerdskul.
Jet Asia's scheduled flights to Chinese cities, including capital Bejing, will average three flights per week.
China International Travel Service will be its ticket distributor.
The airline targets five to seven flights per week on its Bangkok-Incheon service, with two flights per week from Phuket-Busan.
Mr Thanabool said the South Korean services could be upgraded to a scheduled basis, possibly one or two months after the charter launch.
Jet Asia is one of four Thai carriers designated to operate scheduled flights from Thailand to South Korea. Under the Thailand-South Korea air agreement, the others are Thai Airways International, Orient Thai Airlines and Business Air.
Jet Asia prefers a one-class economy configuration with 235 seats, and plans to retrofit its first two 767s to these specifications. All its aircraft are leased.
Mr Thanabool said Jet Asia's shareholders have enough financial resources to support its growth plan. The airline should begin to see profits next year, he said.
Jet Asia's has nearly 200 employees, including 26 pilots and about 100 cabin attendants.
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Copyright 2012 - Bangkok Post, Thailand
