Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has announced it will transfer several more international routes to its Thai Smile (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) unit later this month.

In a statement, the carrier said effective July 1, Thai Smile would assume its daily Chongqing service with its daily Penang, Malaysia service to follow on July 16.

"The transfer of flights to Thai Smile Airways follows the corporate strategic plan for Thai Smile to operate to secondary cities in ASEAN and the region, while Thai focuses on marketing and sales," it said.

Thai Smile will also begin new services to Cebu in the Philippines and Medan Kuala Namu and Surabaya in Indonesia.

Founded in 2012 to help fill the market gap between low-cost carriers and full service airlines, Thai Smile operates sixteen A320-200s (all sourced from Thai Airways Int'l) on regular flights to seventeen destinations in Thailand, China, Macau, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Its lower cost structure is aimed at allowing the national carrier to compete with regional LCC groups such as AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) and Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta).