Malaysia Airlines, Finnair and Japan Airlines are poised to join Bangkok Airways' pool of code-share partners for flights in and out of Koh Samui.

Their entry will expand the flight partnership that already includes Etihad, Air Berlin, Air France, KLM, EVA Air and last week SilkAir.

Malaysia Airlines and Finnair are expected to join the code-share this high season, while Japan Airlines will join next year, said a Bangkok Airways executive.

The expanding pool should drive more traffic to the resort island, said Bangkok Airways president Puttipong Prasarttong-osoth. It means Bangkok Airways will carry over passengers of those foreign carriers that do not operate their own aircraft to and from Koh Samui.

Koh Samui is the most lucrative hub of the private Thai airline, which over the past two decades has almost single-handedly put the once-sleepy island on the global tourism map.

The airport on the island was built and is operated by Bangkok Airways, with up to 1.5 million passengers passing through and 20,000 flights last year.

The airport serves flights by Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways International, Firefly, Berjaya Air and now SilkAir, with routes to Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Trat, Singapore, Hong Kong, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur.

SilkAir, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines, started service on Sep. 27 between Koh Samui and Singapore with three flights per week on an A319 jetliner.

Koh Samui is SilkAir's third destination in Thailand after Phuket and Chiang Mai. For Bangkok Air, it means more traffic from Singapore as well as through traffic from long-haul routes connecting through Singapore, he said.

SilkAir will run morning flights from Singapore while Bangkok Airways runs evening services, he said.