New Airline Thai Smiles Goes Airborne In July

Posted: 08 May 2012 | 6:00 am

Thai Airways International new under carrier Thai Smile will take to the air on the Bangkok to Macau route starting July 7th.

I'm having a hard time understanding if the airline is a budget carrier, low-cost or lower-cost. According to most of the press from Thai, the concept is midscale, sandwiching in between budget and full service.

Perhaps its midscale. For low-cost segment, they have the same issue as hotels, be it limited service, budget or economy. Clearly the marketing people don't like the word cheap.

After receiving a direct email from Thai Smile on introductory fares, next came one from Thai AirAsia who also service the route and it looks like it's game on over pricing.

Will the upstart airline be able to compete in a price war?

Macau remains a high demand destination from Thailand and certainly the gaming element is driving the numbers. One has to wonder why the Thai government continues to be muted over introducing controlled gambling to the country, given the flourishing Asian neighborhood that continues to attract locals overseas?

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