Thai Lion Air Receives AOC; to Launch Flights to Chiang Mai, Jakarta and KL

[HD video below] Thai Lion Air has received an air operator certificate (AOC) from Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation, which means it is now permitted to launch air services in Thailand.

The carrier aims to launch operations on 4 December 2013 with a twice-daily service between Bangkok Don Muang International Airport and Chiang Mai.

The airline is also applying for international traffic rights and hopes to launch services in early December from Bangkok Don Muang to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

Thai Lion Air already has two aircraft in Bangkok, both new 215-seat 737-900ERs (see video below), as well as around 300 employees, including 22 pilots, 60 cabin crew, 50 maintenance personnel and 100 ground handling staff.

Thai Lion Air is to receive a third aircraft in March, and hopes to have a fleet of 50 aircraft in five years.

The third aircraft will be used to increase services on existing routes and also launch new services, such as Bangkok-Singapore and Bangkok-Hat Yai.

‘Freedom To Fly’

Thai Lion Air has launched a multi-million dollar marketing campaign, using the tagline “The Freedom To Fly”.

The $3 million campaign - which includes print, outdoor, online and TV advertising - highlights that the carrier delivers consistently low fares.

“By offering consistently low fares, people have the freedom to fly when they want to,” said Thai Lion Air CEO, Captain Darsito Hendro Seputro. “Others may have short-term one-off promotions, but they are unable to sustain low fares for long periods whereas we can. We can provide consistently low fares because we manage our costs and the higher capacity 737-900ER is very efficient. It has about the same trip cost as a 180-seat Airbus A320, but the 737-900ER means we have an additional 35 seats.”

Thai Lion Air’s marketing campaign also highlights that Thai Lion Air imposes no additional fuel surcharge and that when it comes to pricing, it has no hidden costs.

In fact Thai Lion Air offers some free frills that other low-cost carriers generally don’t offer. For example, Thai Lion Air gives passengers a free check-in baggage allowance of 15kg.

Thai Lion Air’s “Freedom to Fly” advertising campaign was created by Spicy H, one of Thailand’s hottest creative agencies. “I would like to thank the team at Spicy H for the fantastic creative work they have done for us so far,” said Darsito. “The advertising clearly differentiates us in the Thai market and is very impactful.”

Thai Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER - HD Video

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See also: Thai AirAsia Launches Promotion on Fares to KL, Jakarta and Chiang Mai