THAI Smile Airways was a Thai regional airline and a was wholly owned subsidiary of Thai Airways International headquartered in Bangkok. In 2023, it was announced that Thai Smile would be merged into its parent company Thai Airways.[2] The airline merged into Thai Airways International on 31 December 2023. The full cessation of operations was fully effective on January 1, 2024.[3]
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Founded | 19 August 2011 (as Thai Wings) | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 7 July 2012 (as Thai Smile) | ||||||
Ceased operations | 31 December 2023 (re-integrated into Thai Airways International) | ||||||
AOC # | AOC.0007[1] | ||||||
Hubs | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi | ||||||
Focus cities | Chiang Mai | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Royal Orchid Plus | ||||||
Alliance | Star Alliance (Connecting Partner) | ||||||
Fleet size | 12 | ||||||
Parent company | Thai Airways International (100%) | ||||||
Headquarters | 89 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand | ||||||
Key people | Viset Sontichai (CEO) | ||||||
Website | www |
On 20 May 2011, the Thai Airways board announced plans to create a new lower-cost airline, at the time dubbed Thai Wings.[4][verification needed] The creation of the airline was announced by Ampon Kittiampon, the chairman of Thai's board of directors, on 19 August 2011.[5][verification needed] It began operations in July 2012.[5] According to Ampon, THAI Smile is intended to serve the market gap between low-cost carriers and full service airlines.[5] The name THAI Smile was chosen from a pool of 2,229 entries in a contest to name the airline.[5] According to an official at Thai Airways, THAI Smile was planned to begin showing an annual profit of about five million baht within two years of the start of operations.[5]
In February 2023, it was reported that Thai Smile may be dissolved as a separate entity and merged with its parent company, Thai Airways International, by mid-2024 in an effort to reduce losses.[6] On 18 May 2023, Thai Airways announced that Thai Smile would be merged into its parent as part of the group's post-COVID reconstruction process by the end of 2023.[7] Thai Smile was set to ceased all operations on 31 December 2023.
Thai Smile Airways was an official sponsor of Thai Honda Ladkrabang and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol.[8][9]
As of 2023, Thai Smile flew to the following destinations. The airline served only domestic destinations before ceasing operations on 31st December 2023.:[10]
As of 2023[update], THAI Smile operated the following aircraft:[15]
Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Note | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U | Y | Total | ||||
Airbus A320-200 | 3 | — | 12 | 156 | 168 | Transferred to Thai Airways International.[16] |
9 | — | 162 | 174 | |||
Total | 12 |
Media related to Thai Smile at Wikimedia Commons