Budget airline Vietjet Thailand is gearing up for a massive fleet expansion, rolling out new aircraft and routes in a bold bid to challenge rivals and scoop up millions more passengers.
Chief Executive Woranate Laprabang confirmed the airline will acquire nine new Boeing 737-8 jets this year, moving towards a full Boeing fleet within five years. The switch will give Vietjet a longer flight range and a bigger slice of the market, with a target of 50 aircraft by 2028.
By mid-year, four Airbus A320s were returned, leaving 14 in operation. But the expansion is now full throttle, with one new Boeing arriving in October, four more in November, and another four in December. That will bring the total fleet to 23 aircraft by the end of this year.
The new planes will fuel international growth, focusing on high-demand routes to South Korea and Japan during the cool season. October marks the launch of a Bangkok-Seoul service, followed by flights to Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka in December.
This expansion comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restored Thailand’s aviation safety rating to Category 1, opening doors to more overseas routes.
Vice-president of commercial and customer service, Pinyot Pibulsonggram, dismissed talk of a fare war, saying demand is strong enough to keep prices stable. Instead, Vietjet is broadening its reach to counter weaker Chinese arrivals, with new routes to Kolkata and Ahmedabad launching later this year.
Despite a dip in Chinese tourist numbers, Pinyot confirmed Vietjet continues to serve Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, which remain popular with Thai travellers. By year-end, Vietjet expects to cover seven countries with 25 international routes and 12 domestic routes.
Looking ahead, the airline is eyeing 2026 expansions to Hong Kong, Nagoya, and even long-haul flights such as Phuket to Perth. Domestically, a new route to Nakhon Si Thammarat will mark the 11th province in its network, as it fights to reclaim Thailand’s second-largest domestic market share, according to Bangkok Post.
The airline secured 26,000 seats under the government’s 200,000-flight domestic support programme and reported 7.5 billion baht revenue in the first half of the year. Vietjet is on track to hit 15 billion baht revenue by year-end, matching last year despite shortfalls in Chinese arrivals.
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