Lion Air Group is planning to launch a new budget affiliate in Thailand by the end of 2013 with an initial fleet of two 737-900ERs based at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport.
Thai Lion will initially serve two international routes – Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta – and Thailand’s second largest domestic route, Bangkok-Chiang Mai. With Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, Thai Lion will be able to leverage the hubs of its sister carriers.
The new carrier will compete primarily against Thailand’s two existing LCCs, Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways’ low-cost affiliate Nok Air. Both are based at Don Mueang and serve Chiang Mai while AirAsia is the market leader between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur and also serves Bangkok-Jakarta.
surprised the aviation world when it placed an order of 234 A320s, the biggest in history by a single order, in addition to the 230 Boeing aircraft it earlier ordered in 2011.
Lion Air currently flies to 79 destinations using an all-Boeing fleet of 92 aircraft, ETN reported.
