BANGKOK - Eight new Thai airlines are set to start operations as the tourism-reliant nation expects a sustained recovery in leisure travel to draw about 35 million foreign visitors in 2024.

Really Cool Airlines, which plans to offer scheduled services on medium- to long-haul international routes, is among the companies that have won Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit’s approval for operator licences, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.

The carriers have also been permitted to import a total of 60 aircraft, it said in a statement. 

The new operators will compete with carriers including Thai Airways International, which is firming up an order for as many as 80 jets from Boeing, and Asia Aviation, for a share of the more than 130 million passengers expected to travel through the nation’s main six airports in 2024.

Foreign tourist arrivals more than doubled in 2023 to 28 million after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration waived visa requirements for travellers from its key markets like China and India.

Really Cool Airlines, founded by Mr Patee Sarasin, a former chief executive of budget carrier Nok Airlines, will commence chartered flight services in March.

It plans to initially operate flights to Japan and aims to serve additional Asian destinations, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, during the first two years, Mr Patee said in November 2023.

Other airlines planning to begin operations in 2024 include Pattaya Airways, Asian Aerospace Services, Avanti Air Charter, Siam Seaplane and Asia Atlantic Airlines, The Nation newspaper reported. BLOOMBERG