S'pore's third airline

S'pore's third airline

SINGAPORE (AFP): Region Air, a local air charter company owned by reclusive hotelier Ong Beng Seng, will take off as Singapore's third full-fledged airline by the end of the month, officials said yesterday.

Starting Oct. 26, Region Air will commence with three scheduled flights a week to Vung Tao, some 120 kilometers (72 miles) east of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

The airline will also begin thrice-weekly flights to the Thai resort island Ko Samui from December 1 on a charter basis initially before moving on to a scheduled service.

Neither of the republic's two scheduled airlines, national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) or 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," said John Lim, Region Air's marketing manager.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is expected to grant Region Air an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) by this month, which will allow it to operate as an airline and run scheduled international services.