New airline takes off

New airline takes off

SINGAPORE (AFP): Region Air, a local air charter company owned by reclusive hotelier Ong Beng Seng, took off yesterday on its maiden flight to the Vietnamese city of Vung Tau as Singapore's third fully-fledged airline, officials said.

Region Air was targeting business travelers, primarily in the oil industry, for its twice-weekly flights to Vung Tao, 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of Ho Chih Minh City, a spokesman for the airline said.

The airline is also expected to begin thrice-weekly flights to the Thai resort island Ko Samui from early December, initially on a charter basis.

Neither of Singapore's two scheduled airlines -- national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its wholly-owned subsidiary SilkAir -- services these two destinations.

"We may look into other destinations down the line, but that is of course subject to government approval from the countries involved," John Lim, Region Air's marketing manager, said recently.