EIGHT new Thai airlines are set to start operations as the tourism-reliant nation expects a sustained recovery in leisure travel to draw about 35 million foreign visitors this year.

Really Cool Airlines, which plans to offer scheduled services on medium-to-long haul international routes, is among the companies which have won Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit’s approval for operator licenses, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. The carriers have also been permitted to import a total of 60 aircraft, it said.

The new operators will compete with carriers including Thai Airways International, which is firming up an order for as many as 80 jets from Boeing, and Asia Aviation, for a share of the more than 130 million passengers expected to travel through the nation’s main six airports this year. Foreign tourist arrivals more than doubled last year to 28 million after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration waived visa requirements for travellers from its key markets such as China and India.

Really Cool Airlines, founded by Patee Sarasin, a former chief executive of budget carrier Nok Airlines, will commence chartered flight services in March. It plans to initially operate flights to Japan and aims to serve additional Asian destinations, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, during the first two years, Patee said in November.

Other airlines planning to begin operations this year include Pattaya Airways, Asian Aerospace Service, Avanti Air Sarter, Siam Seaplane and Asia Atlantic Airlines, The Nation newspaper reported. BLOOMBERG