The new long-haul low-fare airline Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) will make its inaugural flight on June 17, launching a daily service between Bangkok and Seoul, and plans to add Tokyo and Osaka to its flight schedule in late July.

Nadda Buranasiri, TAAX’s chief executive, said one daily flight from Don Mueang airport to Incheon airport will operate using its Airbus A330-300 with 377 seats. Bookings will be open from Wednesday.

The company anticipates a warm welcome from travellers as South Koreans are among Thailand’s top five visitors, with over 1.3 million tourists from this country in 2013. With no visa requirement, more than 400,000 Thai people visited South Korea last year.

Later in late July, TAAX will operate one daily flight from its Don Mueang base to Narita airport in Tokyo and five flights a week to Osaka.

The company is offering tickets at prices 15-20% below full-service airlines.

In its first year of operation, Mr Nadda said, the company's projections are for at least 200,000 passengers, half of them Thais, or a load factor above 80% to all destinations. The company targets around one billion baht of revenue in its first year.



