Thai AirAsia wants 70% of Thai fliers in revamped loyalty club

Thai AirAsia has targeted carrying around 23.2 million passengers this year, up from about 19.8 million last year. Of this estimate, around half are expected to be Thai fliers.
The revamped scheme is more aimed at maintaining passenger loyalty than helping the carrier to significantly boost revenue, Thai AirAsia chief executive officer Santisuk Klongchaiya said yesterday at the official launch of the overhauled programme in Thailand.
“Our guests are the core of what we do, and we want them to be able to reap greater rewards from travelling,” Santisuk said. “This brand new programme gives our guests more opportunities to enjoy privileges as they fly around the world with us, while making it more attractive to travel with AirAsia.”
AirAsia BIG Loyalty country head Ba-wornpak Wachirawarakarn said the programme has targeted securing a total of 3 million Thai members before the end of this year, up from about 2 million now.
AirAsia BIG Loyalty was established in November 2011 and is owned and operated by Think BIG Digital Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of AirAsia Bhd, in collaboration with Aimia Inc.
The restructured loyalty programme features a unique membership status system based on how often passengers fly, regardless of how much they spend on the fares or how far they fly.
The more the members travel with airlines in AirAsia network, the faster they will be upgraded up from Red to Gold, Platinum, and, ultimately, Black status. Every member starts with Red status.
The loyalty programme has more than 160 partners worldwide, including Central, Lazada, Konvy, Looksi, and Tesco Lotus.
This year, Thai AirAsia has targeted a load factor of 87 per cent. In the first quarter, the airline carried 5.6 million passengers, up 16 per cent year on year. In that quarter, Thai AirAsia added three aircraft, bringing its total fleet to 59 aircraft.