Australia's Regional Express (Rex) has leased two Saab 340 aircraft to Thai domestic carrier SGA Airlines, which operates feeder services for low-cost airline Nok Air.

The aircraft will arrive in Thailand on 5 January 2010 and will start operations on 17 January 2010 subject to regulatory approval, says Rex.

"Initially the aircraft will be operating on two routes - Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai to Udon Thani," it adds.

SGA is a partner of Thailand's Nok Air, a subsidiary of Thai Airways International. It will be rebranded as Nok-Mini, and the two aircraft have been painted in the Nok-Mini livery.

SGA also operates a fleet of three Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news