Thai Lion Air (TLA) is hoping to secure a profit this year, driven by increasing flight capacity, a larger fleet and passenger growth fuelled by Chinese tour groups.
Nuntaporn Komonsittivate, head of commercial operations at TLA, said the tourism rebound has built confidence that the airline can compensate for losses in the first and second quarter this year with more steady cash flow in the second half, due largely to increasing seat capacity.
The airline has 11 Boeing 737 aircraft but will add two more aircraft to its fleet in April, with the aim of catering to the growth in tourism, particularly from the Chinese market which is expected to ramp up especially from the second quarter onwards.
Ms Nuntaporn said 80% of TLA's passengers from China would be tour groups, while the remaining 20% would be independent travellers.
At present, the airline has resumed flights to 8-10 destinations in China, such as Changsha, Nanjing and Guangzhou. The average load factor for these flights stood at 80%.
Other Chinese cities in the pipeline include Wuhan, Shenzhen and Hangzhou and it would also add more flights to existing routes.
TLA is operating 13 domestic destinations, and six international destinations outside of China, namely Jakarta, Kathmandu, Taipei, Bombay, Bangalore and Singapore.
Before being disrupted by the pandemic in 2020, TLA served medium-haul routes to Japan via its two wide-body Airbus A330 jets.
Ms Nuntaporn said even though the tourism outlook has been forecast in a positive trend, the airline doesn't plan to bring its A330s back to the fleet.
By 2025, TLA expects to expand its fleet to 35 aircraft, the same number it had prior to the pandemic.
This year the airline aims to carry 5 million passengers, with international passengers accounting for 30% of the total by the end of this year, compared to 10% at the moment.
Ms Nuntaporn said challenges for airlines remain with the high cost of fuel, which represented about 25-30% of operational costs.
She said the industry hopes the government could extend the reduction in the jet fuel excise tax from the middle of this year until December and postpone the tourism fee collection to allay tourist's concerns.
Given that the northern region is suffering from PM2.5 pollution, Ms Nuntaporn said the airline's load factor on its Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai routes had decreased significantly in the week before Songkran, while bookings during the Songkran festival remain unaffected due to advanced bookings among local residents.
