Thai airlines form their own trade association

Sunday, 25 Feb, 2021 0

Seven Thai airlines are hoping a unified voice will help the local market recover and speed up a return to international travel.

They have formed the Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT) with a number of short term priorities to kick start the travel recovery.

Firstly, they hope to work together to secure soft loans from the government which are currently being considered.

They will also lobby for a fast implementation of a vaccine passport scheme to allow quarantne free international travel to resume, said interim president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.

"The vaccine passport is an important agenda item we’ll push forward with the government," he said.

"Airlines are ready to support border reopening."

The AAT is made up of Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Smile Airways, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet.

Puttipong said the AAT will hold discussions with the International Air Transport Association with a view of adopting IATA’s Travel Pass, which allows passengers to store vaccination and Covid testing data.

The association will also call on the government to prioritise flight crews during the vaccination rollout.

Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor

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TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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