Bangkok Airways (PG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) hopes to have crafted a suitable fleet expansion plan by early next year so as to ensure deliveries of any new aircraft can commence by a 2018 deadline.

President Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth told the Bangkok Post in an interview last week that the Thai regional carrier is currently studying the A320neo from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac), the B737 MAX from Boeing (BOE, Washington National), and the A220-300 from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) among possible options.

According to Puttipong, management has shown partiality to the A320neo given the airline's fleet consists of eleven A319-100s, eight A320-200s and ten ATR72-500s and -600s. But, he added, when the airline's operational requirements are taken into consideration, newer models may be avoided altogether in favour of existing versions.

"Most of our flights are roughly one hour, while the fuel efficiency advantages for new aircraft such as the A320neo are for flights beyond two hours," he said.

During an IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Bangkok Airways raised approximately USD400 million in funding to put towards fleet renewal which should see its fleet almost double by 2018.