Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn and Chief Executive Officer of low-cost airline Thai AirAsia, Mr Tassapon Bijleveld, recently participated in a ceremony to welcome the airline’s thirteenth Boeing 737-300 aircraft, the first to feature the “Amazing Thailand” campaign logo.

The aircraft will serve all of Thai AirAsia’s domestic and international routes, giving further exposure to the high-profile campaign which is designed to attract 14.8 million international visitor arrivals in 2007 and 15.7 million visitors in 2008. Mr Tassapon commented, “We are greatly honoured that the Tourism Authority of Thailand has selected Thai AirAsia to be a part of its promotional campaign. This aircraft will be utilised over our entire route-net, a very positive representation for Thailand.”

He added, “Thai AirAsia is proud to be contributing to the growth of international visitor arrivals to Thailand which benefits the Thai tourism industry while at the same time, glad to help Thais travel abroad in order to gain new experiences at low-prices. It is our steadfast objective to continue to provide quality service to all passengers.”

In turn, TAT Governor Mrs Phornsiri said, “We are pleased that Thai AirAsia, a private company, is helping us to enhance Thai tourism promotion efforts, on both the inbound and outbound sectors. Low-cost airlines provide a valuable opportunity for people to travel more conveniently and also help to stimulate Thai economic growth.”

At the launch ceremony, numerous guests and media representatives welcomed the new aircraft with a performance of the traditional Thai long-drum folk dance by the Siam Niramit theatre.

About Thai AirAsia
Thai AirAsia is the only low-cost airline operating both domestic and international routes at Suvarnabhumi Airport, utilising 148-seat Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Its fleet of 13 aircraft serve 10 domestic routes include Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Hat Yai, Phuket, Narathiwat, Krabi, Surat Thani, and 9 international routes, Singapore, Macau, Xiamen, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Langkawi and Shenzen.

In 2006, Thai AirAsia was awarded ISO 9000:2001 certification. Over six million passengers have flown with Thai AirAsia since its launch. Delivery of its new Airbus A320 aircraft will start in October 2007 and the airline expects to have a total of 40 A320s by 2013.

Contact information:
Tel: +66 (0) 2515 9999
Web site: www.airasia.com
Or visit the Thai AirAsia ticket counter at Tesco Lotus.