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Thai Summer Airways
Updated 12th Aug 2026
Thai Summer Airways was set up in early 2018 as a Thai-Chinese joint venture to fly international charters, on routes it announced to Hong Kong, Taipei and Macau rather than the domestic network this site covers. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) granted it an Air Operator's Certificate in September 2020. It took delivery of one Boeing 737-800 in February 2022 and returned it around May or June 2023.
Ownership and the plan to launch from U-Tapao
In a May 2022 interview, the chief executive named Thai and Chinese investors. Wikipedia's Taiwan claim is not supported by a primary citation. The planned base was U-Tapao Airport (UTP).
Thai rules at the time gave a new carrier a year from its operating licence to start flying, which set a deadline of May 2020. That deadline passed, and CAAT granted the Air Operator's Certificate four months later.
The Thai Summer Airways timeline: from licence to returned aircraft
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 2020 | Deadline to begin flying under the operating licence. The Air Operator's Certificate came four months later. |
| September 2020 | Air Operator's Certificate granted by CAAT. |
| October 2021 | Two leased Boeing 737-800s handed back, with Thailand closed to the tourism the airline depended on. |
| February 2022 | One Boeing 737-800 delivered, reactivated from storage in the Netherlands. |
| May 2022 | Chief executive Akkarapat Leechotphaisan targeted an inaugural charter to Hong Kong and Taipei by the end of July 2022. That launch target was not achieved. |
| March 2023 | Schedule filed for U-Tapao to Macau and Bangkok Don Muang Airport (DMK) to Taipei from 18 April 2023, flagged as preliminary by AeroRoutes. |
| May or June 2023 | The sole Boeing 737-800 returned to its lessor. |
Did Thai Summer Airways ever fly?
The Centre for Aviation (CAPA), an airline-profile database, lists Thai Summer Airways as "Inactive - Failed to Launch" but labels that classification an assumption. AeroRoutes reported a preliminary schedule, not an operated flight.
Wikipedia's infobox says Thai Summer Airways began flying in April 2023 and served more than a dozen destinations. Its citation is AeroRoutes' preliminary schedule filing, not a flight record.
Is Thai Summer Airways still operating?
CAPA records the airline as inactive, a classification it reached after the sole Boeing 737-800 went back in mid-2023. It stops short of calling the company formally closed.
CAAT granted the certificate in September 2020. That grant does not establish that passenger services began, or that the certificate remains valid today.
Treat any listing showing Thai Summer Airways in service today as unconfirmed.
