New "THAI Smile Air" to first serve passengers in mid-2012

BANGKOK, Feb 4 (TNA) - "THAI Smile Air", a new sub-brand airline of Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, will first serve international passengers on its Bangkok-Macau route on July 1, 2012. THAI Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Development Chokchai Panyayong publicly announced the schedule after a THAI board meeting in Bangkok on Friday, at which new business plans for both THAI and the new airline were also approved. Chokchai said that the new "THAI Smile Air" will operate two flights daily on its first Bangkok-Macau route, with reservations for air tickets to open for international passengers as of April 2012. Chokchai acknowledged that the new "THAI Smile Air" will later serve international passengers on its Bangkok-Jakarta, Bangkok-Phnom Penh and Bangkok-Kolkata routes and vice versa and will also cater passengers on its domestic routes, Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket and vice versa. According to THAI President Piyasvasti Amranand, the new airline has been positioned to be a light-premium sub-brand of THAI, providing world passengers with another option for aviation services. The airline's name, "THAI Smile Air", was approved by the THAI board in August last year.(TNA)