24 March 2009
AirAsia, Southeast Asia's largest low-cost carrier, is turning Phuket into its second hub in Thailand, a move that will support its plan to open a series of new routes directly linking the island resort with other Asian cities.
Phuket is looming large on AirAsia's radar screen, along with Medan in Indonesia's North Sumatra, Bandung in West Java and Penang in Malaysia where it will set up bases as part of its aggressive expansion.
The Phuket base, scheduled to be up and running in the second half of this year, will serve as a springboard for the carrier to embark on new flights from the island to cities in China and Hong Kong initially.
"Having a hub in Phuket means you can operate more new routes using Phuket as a base, and bring in more traffic from overseas,'' Kathleen Tan, AirAsia's regional head of commercial flights, said in an interview.
The plan requires its Thai sister airline, Thai AirAsia, to hire ground staff, engineers for jet maintenance and initially to keep at least one aircraft on standby, she explained.
Phuket is one of AirAsia's top ports of call, in terms of traffic volume, and the no-frills carrier intends to further exploit the potential of the budget-conscious leisure travel segment.
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