TO FIND out just how explosive the growth in Thailand's budget airlines industry is, one just needs to look at the numbers.

Around five million passengers now travel on low-cost carriers. It was zero before the launch of the country's first budget carrier One-Two-Go just four years ago.

One-Two-Go has 13 leased aircraft - its 14th plane crashed on Sept 16 in Phuket. The aircraft which crashed had been in operation for 12 years; the rest of its aircraft have been operating for between eight and 20 years.

The airline is one of three budget carriers in Thailand. The other two are Thai Airways subsidiary Nok Air and Thai AirAsia.

One-Two-Go, with a total staff strength of 860 including about 100 pilots, accounts for about 22 per cent of the people who fly on budget airlines.

AirAsia's fleet, including its Thai and Malaysian operations, comprises 63 aircraft, with over 100 new aircraft on order. In October, it launched Airbus A320 operations in Thailand with a flight to Chiang Mai.

Nok Air, which currently has fewer than 10 aircraft, wants to double its fleet and launch an initial public offering (IPO) in 2009. The airline has targeted the growing India market, and wants to start flights to Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi. In the east, the airline plans to add Hanoi and Macau to its destination list. The current average age of its fleet is around 15 years.

Statistically, Thailand-based airlines have a good safety record. The exception is Phuket Air which had questions raised over its planes' mechanical state, and had some of its turboprop aircraft grounded after a near-crash in Mae Sot in 2005. Before the Phuket crash, the last happened in 1998.

Bangkok-based travel industry analyst Imtiaz Muqbil said: "There is no reason to believe there is any laxity in the observation of safety standards by regulatory authorities." He added: "Thai authorities follow normal (licensing and inspection) procedures like most other governments. The aviation industry as a whole, is par excellence in terms of safety standards."

Said Mr Albert Tjoeng, Singapore-based spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA): "The global accident rate has been decreasing over the years even as air travel has increased. More than 2 billion passengers travelled by air last year.

He added: "2006 was the safest year ever. Last year, the accident rate was 0.65 per million sectors flown. For IATA member airlines, the accident rate was 0.48. Within 10 years, we cut the accident rate by half - to one accident for every 1.5 million flights. Nonetheless, every accident is a reminder that we must do better."

New issues have risen on the heels of the explosive growth of air travel, facilitated by open skies agreements and spurred by competition.

Some industry analysts say the drive to cut costs to the bone could lead to pilots attempting to land in adverse conditions rather than fly elsewhere or go around repeatedly - which burns expensive jet fuel.

Pilot shortages are also a huge issue. So also technical capability at airports, with many airlines flying to new destinations where airports may not be equipped to cope with abnormal circumstances.

Added Mr Muqbil: "(Another) issue is consumer rights...Mainstream, scheduled airlines have clear protocols on issues like loss of baggage, compensation for denied boarding and cancellations; budget airlines may not have these because keeping costs down is a priority for them."

Top photo: Planes of Nok Air and One-Two-Go, two of the three budget airlines in the country.

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