THAI AIR ASIA is planning to make Phuket a second regional hub after Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, an airline executive has confirmed.

A public relations executive told Phuketwan that Thai Air Asia would open Phuket as a ''hub'' sometime in middle of this year.

The airline's CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld, is quoted as saying that Thai Air Asia was targeting emerging markets including China and India and planned to add flights to second-tier cities in these countries.

News reports say the airline would also add direct Phuket-Hong Kong flights in June, but those Phuketwan spoke with at Thai Air Asia would not confirm this, only that it was being looked into.

Thai Air Asia operates four international flights a day from Phuket, which have recovered from the airport closures in late November.

The Kuala Lumpur-Phuket route is operating at 65 percent capacity while Singapore-Phuket flights are around 70 percent.

Domestic flights are at around 78 percent capacity, the airline spokesperson said.

There are eight daily Air Asia domestic flights between Phuket and Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, which will continue on slightly different times from the current schedule when Air Asia's summer schedule starts on March 29.

One-Two-Go is considering opening Phuket-Hong Kong flights in the middle of April, an executive there said.

He said the budget airline is operating at 90 percent capacity for its two daily domestic flights between Phuket and Bangkok.

One-Two-Go resumed operations on December 5 last year, after being grounded for five months by the Department of Civil Aviation on safety concerns.

Phuket will get an extra daily flight to Malaysia starting on May 1, when Firefly launches a Phuket-Subang route.

Firefly already runs Phuket-Penang flights four times a week, which a spokesperson says are currently carrying about 30-40 passengers per flight on the 72-seat planes.

Nok Air, which resumed its Phuket flights in February after suspending them in July 2008, has two flights a day between Phuket and Don Mueang four days a week and one daily flight three times a week.

Jetstar is operating Sydney-Phuket flights three times a week, and is seeing Sydney-bound passenger loads at about 60 to 70 percent, and incoming flights operating at about 80 percent, says Patiraporn Sukbunjong of the airline.

Malaysia Airline's two daily flights connecting Phuket and Kuala Lumpur are running at about 60 percent capacity, an executive in the Phuket office says.

Dragonair this month increased its Phuket-Hong Kong flights from seven to nine times weekly, to strengthen regional ties for its parent airline Cathay Pacific.