Thai Smile
THAI Smile Airways is a Thai regional airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Thai Airways International headquartered in Bangkok.
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| Founded | 19 August 2011 (as Thai Wings) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 7 July 2012 (as Thai Smile) | ||||||
| AOC # | AOC.0007[1] | ||||||
| Hubs | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi | ||||||
| Focus cities | Chiang Mai | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Royal Orchid Plus | ||||||
| Alliance | Star Alliance (Connecting Partner) | ||||||
| Fleet size | 20 | ||||||
| Destinations | 35 | ||||||
| Parent company | Thai Airways International (100%) | ||||||
| Headquarters | 89 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand | ||||||
| Key people | Viset Sontichai (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
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]
In 2020, THAI Smile established a partnership with USA based Optiontown to run a prepaid flight subscription platform called Flight Pass, which enables customers to pre-purchase THAI Smile flights to one or more destinations at the best available price and decide when they want to travel at a later date.[4]
In February 2023, it has been announced that Thai Smile may be dissolved as a separate entity and merged into parent Thai Airways by Mid-2024 in an effort to reduce losses.[5]
Destinations
As of December 2022 THAI Smile flies to 16 destinations in Thailand and 19 destinations in Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, India and Vietnam.[6]
Fleet
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As of April 2023, THAI Smile operates the following aircraft:[10]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 6 | — | 12 | 156 | 168 | |
| 14 | — | 162 | 174 | |||
| Total | 20 | |||||
Sponsorship
Thai Smile Airways is currently an official sponsor of Thai Honda Ladkrabang and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol.[11][12]
References
- "List of Thailand Air Operator Certificate Holders". Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- "THAI to launch new budget airline". Bangkok Post. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- "THAI sister airline launch set for 2012". Bangkok Post. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- "Thai Smile Flight Pass". Thaismile.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- bangkokpost.com - Thai Smile-THAI merger 'to cut losses' 25 February 2023
- "Thai Smile Booking and Destinations". Thai Smile. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- "Thai Smile Resumes Kolkata Bangkok Flights".
- Liu, Jim (August 16, 2017). "Update 2: Thai Smile cancels Kota Kinabalu service from Sep 2017". Routes Online. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
- "New Route! Fly Direct Flights from Donmuang to Chiang Mai". Thai Smile.
- Airbus Orders and Deliveries (XLS), accessed via "Orders & Deliveries". Airbus. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
- ""ไทยฮอนด้า" ทุ่ม 100 ล้าน ลุยไทยลีก ตั้งเป้าท็อป 10". Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- "สายการบินแรก!ราชบุรีจับมือไทยสมายล์". Retrieved 15 September 2017.
External links
Media related to Thai Smile at Wikimedia Commons
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