Thailand's budget carrier Nok Airlines on Thursday announced it would be working with US-based Space Adventures to help budding Thai astronauts realize their dreams of space travel.
For 100,000 dollars, wealthy Thais can spend two days at a training center in Russia or Florida before launching off for a 15 to 20 minute suborbital flight, which soars 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth
So far, two Thais have signed up for the space flights, said Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer for Nok Air, which will market and sell the Space Adventures packages in Thailand.
"We are bringing an important flying experience to travellers by not just taking them to one destination in the world, but to (the edge of) the space," Patee told reporters.
"Even if the service is not high-volume right now, we target that increasing volume could bring the price down in the next five to ten years."
The service will officially launch in 2009, and John Moltzan, Space Adventures' director of business development, thinks that 10 to 20 Thais could experience space travel in the first year.
"Some wealthy Thais are willing to pay that amount of money for such adventure," he told AFP.
Nok Air, a discount airline of flag carrier Thai Airways International, is currently the only airline partner of Space Adventures in Asia, Moltzan said, although they will act as an agent rather than fly space tourists anywhere.
"Nok Air is young, innovative, and energetic and those fit very well with our key business to bring new experience to customers," he said.
So far, 200 clients around the world have bought tickets for suborbital flights with Washington DC-based Space Adventures, the world's first space tourism venture.
Apart from suborbital flights, Space Adventures also offers orbital flights, which require five months of training for a 10-day trip.
For those really wanting splash out, the US firm offers a two-week stay in space on lunar flights for around 20 million dollars.
Founded in 1998, Space Adventures has sold over 120-million-dollar's worth of space flights, including five orbital flights and 200 suborbital flights.
