Thai Vietjet increases domestic flights

Thai Vietjet is increasing its footprint in Thailand’s domestic market with the launch of five new routes.

Thai Vietjet’s domestic flight network is set to increase to 12 routes later this year, connecting 11 destinations across the Southeast Asian country.

The LCC is opening five new services from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) that will link the capital with the tourist and cultural destinations of Hat Yai, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ubon Ratchathani, and Surat Thani.

The first of the five will open on July 17 between BKK and Hat Yai (HDY), where Thai Vietjet will offer 10X-weekly frequencies. Service to Khon Kaen (KKC) will follow on July 30 (2X-daily); to Nakhon Si Thammarat (NST) on Aug. 6 (1X-daily); to Ubon Ratchathani (UBP) on Oct. 6 (1X-daily); and to Surat Thani (URT) on Nov. 4 (1X-daily).

According to data supplied by OAG Schedules Analyser, Thai Vietjet commanded a 5.1% capacity share of Thailand’s domestic market in 2019–the seventh largest carrier by capacity. Thai AirAsia led the way with almost 15 million seats.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thai Vietjet operated seven domestic routes, linking BKK with Chiang Rai (CEI), Chiang Mai (CNX), Phuket (HKT), Krabi (KBV) and Udon Thani (UTH). It also served CEI-HKT and CEI-UTH. In total the airline offered 2.95 million seats during 2019, 2.4 million of which were on domestic routes.

Thai Vietjet will face strong competition on all the new routes being launched, with Thai Smile competing directly on four of the five services. It will also face indirect competition from Nok Air, Thai AirAsia and Thai Lion Air on all five.

The airline said the expansion would benefit tourism and trade in Thailand as the country recovers from the COVID-19 crisis.

Thailand has recorded a total 58 deaths related to coronavirus and 3,135 confirmed cases. On Wednesday (June 17) the country reported no new infections or deaths, marking 23 successive days without a domestic transmission.

All airports in Thailand have now reopened although international flights are yet to resume. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is currently deciding when to lift the ban, which came into effect on April 27.