Thai Smile
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Founded | 20 May 2011 | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 7 July 2012 | ||||||
Hubs | Suvarnabhumi Airport | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Don Mueang International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | Chiang Mai International Airport | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Royal Orchid Plus | ||||||
Fleet size | 20 | ||||||
Destinations | 21 | ||||||
Company slogan | Fly Smart Fly Sabai Fly with Thai Smile | ||||||
Parent company | Thai Airways | ||||||
Headquarters | 1704,1705-1708A AIA Capital Center, 17th Floor, 89 Ratchadapisek Road, Khaeng Din Daeng, Khet Din Daeng, Bangkok, Thailand 10400 | ||||||
Key people | Woranet Laprabang | ||||||
Website |
www |
Thai Smile Air (Thai:การบินไทยสมายล์) is the regional airline and wholly owned subsidiary of Thai Airways.[1] Based in Thailand, it began operations in July 2012.
History
On 20 May 2011, the Thai Airways board announced plans to create a new lower-cost airline, at the time dubbed Thai Wings.[2] The creation of the airline was announced by Ampon Kittiampon, the chairman of Thai's board of directors, on 19 August 2011.[3] It is planned to begin operations in July 2012.[3] According to Ampon, Thai Smile is intended to serve the market gap between low-cost carriers and full service airlines.[3] The name Thai Smile was chosen from a pool of 2,229 entries in a contest to name the airline.[3]
According to an official at Thai Airways, Thai Smile is planned to begin showing an annual profit of about five million baht within two years of the start of operations.[3]
Destinations
Thai Smile currently flies to the following destinations:[4][5]
- Cambodia
- China
- Changsha - Changsha Huanghua International Airport
- Chongqing - Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport[6]
- India
- Gaya - Gaya Airport
- Jaipur - Jaipur International Airport[7]
- Lucknow - Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (begins 17 December 2016)[7]
- Varanasi - Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Thailand
- Bangkok - Don Mueang International Airport
- Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi Airport
- Chiang Mai - Chiang Mai International Airport
- Chiang Rai - Chiang Rai International Airport
- Hat Yai - Hat Yai International Airport
- Khon Kaen - Khon Kaen Airport
- Krabi - Krabi Airport
- Narathiwat - Narathiwat Airport
- Phuket - Phuket International Airport
- Surat Thani - Surat Thani Airport
- Ubon Ratchathani - Ubon Ratchathani Airport
- Udon Thani - Udon Thani International Airport
- Future destinations
- Cebu - Mactan–Cebu International Airport
- Surabaya - Juanda International Airport
- Medan - Kualanamu International Airport
- Kaohsiung - Kaohsiung International Airport
Fleet
As of July 2016, THAI Smile's fleet consists of 20 Airbus A320-200 aircraft in an all Economy Class configuration of 174 seats. ‘Smile Plus’ in the first rows of the aircraft features 16 seats with additional space and enhanced inflight service. Four aircraft were delivered in 2012 with the first arrival in June. THAI Smile plans to add services to neighbouring countries and southern China.[8]
Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Airbus A320-200 | 20 | — | 166 / 174 | 166 seats with Smile Plus configuration 174 seats in all economy configuration |
Total | 20 | — |
References
- ↑ "Thai Smile focuses on turning around unprofitable Thai Airways routes as new AOC is secured". Centre for Aviation (CAPA). 3 April 2014.
- ↑ "THAI to launch new budget airline". Bangkok Post. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "THAI sister airline launch set for 2012". Bangkok Post. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ↑ http://www.thaismileair.com/thaismile/en/where-we-fly.htm
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2013/08/21/tgs-w13/
- ↑ "THAI Smile Airways to operate Chongqing and Penang flights". eTurboNews. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
- 1 2 Liu, Jim (7 October 2016). "Thai Smile adds new India routes in W16". Airline Route. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ↑ http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/THAI-Smile
External links
Media related to Thai Smile at Wikimedia Commons