Greater penetration of India and the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) subregion will constitute the main growth drivers for Thai AirAsia (TAA) in 2017.
Expanding the network with the launch of new routes, boosting flight frequencies and upgrading connections will be the order of the day this year for Thailand's largest low-cost carrier.
TAA chief executive Tassapon Bijleveld divulged this strategy, which he said would propel growth of up to 25% for the airline in 2017.
He told the Bangkok Post that Thailand's political stability will continue through the year, benefiting the entire spectrum of the tourism industry both in terms of domestic travel and wooing foreign visitors.
This year there is a good chance for Thailand to regain the growth momentum of Chinese arrivals dented by the clampdown on zero-dollar tours that preyed on inbound tourists from China, he said.
This year, TAA aims to carry 19.5 million passengers, up from a projected 17 million in 2016, acquiring six new additional aircraft for its Airbus 320 fleet, while sustaining an average load factor of 84%.
"The year 2016 was all about creating an extensive network and bolstering capacity by adding a variety of hubs and launching a record 12 domestic and international routes," Mr Tassapon said. "For 2017, we will be focusing on strengthening our presence in India and CLMV, which offer great potential."
TAA intends to launch more routes, increase flight frequencies on popular routes and offer more flights from hubs outside Bangkok, he said.
The airline already operates flights from its Bangkok Don Mueang airport base to four Indian cities -- Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.
"We foresee a lot of potential and demand from India whose traffic will support TAA's growth and be a good back up when inbound Chinese tourist numbers become modest," Mr Tassapon said.
On the zero-dollar tour issue, he said the government's crackdown has caused a ripple effect across the entire tourism industry and suggested that every player has to figure out its own way on how to move on.
TAA was not immune to the impact of reduced numbers of Chinese tourists in the fourth quarter of 2016, but was still able to maintain strong growth as other routes remain active.
"However, this is not a big problem for AirAsia because we have been through many tough times and we beat them with our improved service," Mr Tassapon said.
"AirAsia is a resilient organisation and we are very adaptive to any kind of situation. To make up for the slowdown, we will focus more on FITs (free independent travellers)," he added.