Thai Air Asia X receives approval for air operator’s certificate

Thai Air Asia X has received approval for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation. With the AOC, Thai Air Asia X will now be able to proceed with its application for operating permits and airport slots for its international routes. The carrier will reveal the start date of its commercial operations once details have been finalised. The low-cost carrier will initially lease two Airbus A330-300s with 366 seats from a subsidiary of the Air Asia Company during its first year of operation, and will begin services from Don Mueng International Airport in Bangkok. It is yet unknown if the new A330-300s will feature the two-class configuration currently used by Air Asia X, or sport an all-economy setting. The newly appointed chief executive officer of Thai Air Asia X, Azran Osman-Rani, said: “Thai Air Asia X is expected to offer connecting fly-thru services with Thai Air Asia’s short haul domestic and regional network, offering greater connectivity options from hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. The establishment of our Thai hub will see the beginning of Air Asia X’s strategic multi hub plan turn into reality.” For more information, visit www.airasia.com Clement Huang