AirAsia's operations in Thailand remain unchanged
Play
AirAsia's operations in Thailand remain unchanged despite the airline having to deal with the disappearance of its flight on the way from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday.
An AirAsia representative said the airline’s two units in Thailand – Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X – would continue flying both locally and internationally as usual.
“All operations here remain unchanged. We don’t have to revise any flights or routes at this time as all flights in and out of Thailand are fully booked due to the New Year period,” the representative said.
The source also added that the management in Thailand will not make any comments in relation to the flight disappearance, and that all information would only come from the AirAsia head office in Malaysia and the branch in Indonesia.
“However, some operations in Indonesia and Singapore may have to be revised because one aircraft is missing from the fleet,” the source added.
At around 6.17am local time on Sunday, AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore was reported missing over the Java Sea with 155 passengers including one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, three South Koreans and seven crew members. Rescue teams from different nations are searching for the airplane.
AFP reported yesterday that AirAsia shares lost almost 8 per cent in Kuala Lumpur after the disappearance was reported. It also pointed out that AirAsia had never suffered a fatal accident and that the missing jet had last undergone maintenance on November 16.
The plane’s disappearance comes at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysian aviation. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March with 239 passengers and crew, and in July flight MH17 was shot down over troubled Ukraine with the loss of all 298 on board.
Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X are based at Bangkok’ Don Mueang International Airport. At Don Mueang, Thai AirAsia, which is operating more than 200 flights per day shares up to 30 per cent of passengers, followed by Nok Air with 27 per cent, Thai Airways and THAI Smile Airways 21 per cent. The rest is shared among other airlines and charter flights.
Other budget airlines based in Don Mueang are Orient Thai, Thai Lion Air, THAI Smile Airways, and V Air. Nok Scoot is scheduled to start operations from early next year.
