Nok Air to end Nok Mini cooperation with Siam General Aviation ch-aviation PRO exclusive

The Thai Department of Airports has engaged Bangkok Airways (PG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and Nok Air (DD, Bangkok Don Mueang) over the launch of flights to the new airport in Betong, scheduled to open in mid-2020, The Bangkok Post has reported.

Betong is located inland in the southernmost part of Thailand, Yala province, near the Malaysian border. The province does not currently have an active commercial airport. Seaside Narathiwat airport is located over 100 kilometres away. One of Malaysia's major gateways at Penang is also around 100 kilometres away.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said that flights from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi or Bangkok Don Mueang would take around 1:40 hours. The government also hopes to attract flights from Malaysia and Singapore to Betang going forward.

Construction of the Betang airport is around 85% complete and scheduled to end in September 2019. Following the certification of the airport, first flights are expected to take off from Betang in June 2020.

NokScoot (XW, Bangkok Don Mueang) has formed a line maintenance joint venture with SIA Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Group.

The new company will initially operate at Bangkok Don Mueang prior to expanding to other key airports in Thailand, the firms said in a statement.

The JV will have an initial registered capital of THB63.7 million bahts (USD2 million). NokScoot will pay up THB32.5 million bahts (USD1 million) for a 51% stake, while SIA Engineering will take the remaining 49% stake for THB31.2 million (USD1 million).

"The joint venture will allow SIAEC to support NokScoot’s growing fleet in Thailand and grow SIAEC’s existing network of Line Maintenance International (LMI) stations to 34 airports in 7 countries outside Singapore," SIAEC CEO Png Kim Chiang said.

NokScoot, a long-haul low-cost specialist, itself is a 51/49 joint venture between Thailand's low-cost Nok Air (DD, Bangkok Don Mueang) and Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. SIAEC is traded at the Singapore Exchange and is 77.4%-owned by...

Nok Air (DD, Bangkok Don Mueang) will launch its first two routes to India in April 2019, ch-aviation schedule analysis has revealed.

The Thai LCC will fly from its base at Bangkok Don Mueang to Vishakhapatnam (3x weekly from April 18) and to Guwahati (2x weekly from April 20). Both routes will be operated with B737-800s, Nok Air's only jet aircraft type.

The two routes will also be Nok Air's first services extending beyond South-East Asia and China. Currently, the LCC serves twenty-three destinations in Thailand, as well as four in China (Nanning, Chengdu, Nantong, and Zhengzhou), Ho Chi Minh City, and Yangon.

Nok Air's 51%-owned subsidiary NokScoot (XW, Bangkok Don Mueang) launched its first Indian route to Delhi Int'l in December 2018. Thailand is an increasingly popular destination for Indian tourists and the routes being launched by Nok Air do not require traffic rights under the India-Thailand bilateral air services agreement.