Woranate Laprabang, chief executive of Vietjet Thailand, said the airline is in the process of receiving nine new Boeing 737-8 aircraft. These aircraft offer a longer range than its current fleet of Airbus A320s can provide, reports the Bangkok Post.
The airline plans for its entire fleet consist of Boeing aircraft within five years, with a target of operating 50 aircraft in total by 2028.
Mr Woranate said as of the middle of this year, the airline had returned four Airbus aircraft, leaving a total of 14 aircraft in operation.
Vietjet Thailand is scheduled to receive one Boeing aircraft in October, four in November, and four in December. The airline expects to expand its routes in this year’s final quarter, with the size of the fleet set to reach 23 aircraft by year-end.
The new routes serve popular destinations in South Korea and Japan, which tend to attract strong demand in the cool season.
The expansion will start with the Bangkok–Seoul route in October, following the Federal Aviation Administration’s upgrade of Thailand’s aviation safety rating to Category 1, which enabled the launch of additional international routes. The Bangkok-Tokyo (Narita) and Bangkok-Osaka routes are scheduled to commence in December.
Pinyot Pibulsonggram, vice-president of commercial and customer service, said although many airlines are expanding via popular routes, the reemergence of a price war is unlikely, as there is sufficiently strong demand from passengers on these routes.
To cope with the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals, the airline is opting for other markets offering opportunities, such as India. It will launch services on two new routes ‒ Bangkok-Kolkata and Bangkok-Ahmedabad ‒ in November and December, respectively.
Mr Pinyot said it is still maintaining its presence of scheduled flights in four Chinese cities, namely Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shanghai, which have attracted more Thai visitors.
By the end of this year, the airline will cover seven countries, including 25 international routes and 12 domestic routes.
The possible routes it is considering for expansion in 2026 include Hong Kong, after Thailand regained its FAA status, Nagoya, along with other destinations reachable via non-stop flights of seven hours or less, including Phuket to Perth.
The airline will operate a new service to Nakhon Sri Thammarat as its eleventh Thai province, aiming to regain the second largest domestic market share in Thailand within this year.
Regarding the government’s giveaway of 200,000 domestic flights, Vietjet Thailand got roughly 26,000 seats, and this should help further boost foreign tourist arrivals.
During the first half, Vietjet Thailand gained B7.5bn revenue and would like to earn B15bn by the end of this year, equivalent to the amount recorded last year.
However, this is still 20% less than targeted earlier, due to the contraction in overall foreign arrivals, particularly the Chinese market.