Nok Air yesterday issued a new tagline slogan in a bid to revitalise its tarnished brand image and to reflect its wider network coverage in Asia.
"Nok Air … Smiling Across Asia" has replaced "We Fly Smiles" as the budget airline's new slogan. The new slogan is part of efforts to raise its profile from the domestic to the regional level.
"Our new slogan communicates our core message that we are moving forward to another level -- the regional market," said chief executive Patee Sarasin.
The SET-listed budget airline's bid to go regional followed its May 16 announcement of the formation of a partnership with seven other Asia-Pacific airlines to create what was billed as the world's largest low-cost carrier alliance.
The Value Alliance (VA) will indirectly aid Nok Air's regional expansion as alliance members complement each other's operations to drive ticket sales and distribution through an interfaced platform.
Through VA, customers can view, select and book the best available fares on flights from any of the member airlines in a single transaction with a single payment, directly from any of the partners' websites.
The alliance gives Nok Air an Asia-Pacific network, covering more than 160 destinations from 17 hubs with a collective fleet of 176 aircraft across the region, without operating most of the flights.
The airline's regional bid will also be driven by its foray into the huge Chinese market, as the carrier is looking beyond Thai domestic routes and limited flights to Vietnam and Myanmar.
Nok Air intends to launch its first scheduled flights to southern China in November from its base at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport.
Mr Patee insisted its spate of problems, triggered by the February exodus of pilots after an organisational dispute that led to a mass cancellation of flights and dented Nok Air's reputation, was history.
Having slipped into the red with a combined net loss of 1.6 billion baht from 2014 to the first quarter of 2016, Nok Air expects to break even by year-end.