THAILAND: Thai Airways International Halts Flights

Thai Airways International will ground all services in Asia, 25 March, followed by Australia on 27 March and Europe
on 1 April, the airline announced Tuesday evening.

According to the airline’s announcement flights will remain grounded
until 31 May.

Blaming travel bans and country lockdowns that battle the Covid-19 outbreaks across Europe and Asia the airline is embarking on an unprecedented shutdown of flights that will last through to 31 May.

Starting on 25 March 2020 services are suspended to Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Yangon, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Dhaka, Islamabad, and Colombo.

Domestic flights to Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Krabi will be transferred and operated by THAI Smile.

Starting on 27 March 2020 services are suspended to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth in Australia.

Starting on 1 April 2020 THAI will cancel most of its flights to Europe serving London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow
and Stockholm.

The airline had earlier suspended flights to Sendai, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Busan, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Rome, Milan, Vienna, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Muscat, Dubai, and Auckland.

Passengers who hold THAI and THAI Smile code-share tickets, issued before 25 March 2020 with the following travel periods, can convert unused tickets to one-year valid travel voucher without fees or surcharges:
Asian Routes 25 March to 31 May 2020; European, Australian and New Zealand Routes 1 April to 31 May 2020.

Royal Orchid Plus (ROP) members holding award tickets issued for travel during 25 March to 31 May 2020 are eligible for a full re-credit mileages, or they can opt to change the travel date without any fee or charge with expired miles extended until 30 September 2020.

Passengers can check flight schedules and make itinerary changes themselves on thaiairways.com website. For ticket adjustments or more information, ROP members can contact THAI Sales Offices or visit thaiairways.com/rop.

THAI will still operate cargo service on some routes and will operate charter flights if there are stranded passengers or government agencies that make a request.

THAILAND: Thai Airways To Buy 30 Planes

Thai Airways International said it plans to modernise its fleet by replacing almost 30 older aircraft over the next five years, adding to the climbing demand for planes in Asia.

The state-run airline is seeking new generation aircraft offering greater comfort and fuel efficiency, and is talking with both Airbus and Boeing, chairman Areepong Bhoocha-Oom said.

The portfolio of our airline will have new aircraft almost 100%, Areepong said. It’s the right step for Thai Airways partly because fuel costs could be volatile in future even though they are low currently, he said.

Thai Airways’ purchases would add to the hundreds of aircraft worth billions of dollars ordered by Asian airlines, such as AirAsia and IndiGo in India, amid a surge in the number of people travelling by air in the region.

Boeing forecasts a $6.05tn jetliner market in the next two decades globally.

The Bangkok-based carrier is trying to turn around performance after posting losses in three of the past four years.

The company’s shares fell 6.1% yesterday, the most in almost two months, and are down 75% from a high in 1999. The stock has eight sell recommendations, nine holds and one buy rating.

Concerns that the aircraft purchases could weigh on Thai Airways’ financial health appear to have hurt the stock yesterday, according to Siam Tiyanont, an analyst at Phillip Securities (Thailand) Co in Bangkok.

The airline’s financial status has recently improved after years of challenges, Siam said. The plan for new aircraft purchases may be too early and could result in a jump in debt.

Thai Airways presently has a 100-strong fleet and will seek Cabinet approval for the plane replacement plan by the end of July, Areepong said in the interview Thursday on the sidelines of a conference in Bangkok.

Airbus’s A380 superjumbos will remain a significant part of the company’s fleet, while older Boeing 747s will be replaced in the years ahead, he added.

An overhaul of marketing and reservation contributed to record passenger cabin factor of about 85% in the first quarter and the full-year target is 80%, Areepong said.

The airline’s goal is to exceed last year’s net income, Areepong said. Thai Airways swung to a profit of 15.1mn baht ($445,000) in 2016. It lost money in each of the three prior years.

The airline needs new airplanes to modernise its fleet and boost competitiveness, said Raenoo Bhandasukdi, an analyst at KT Zmico Securities Co in Bangkok.

Thai Airways is expected to bolster profits this year, which would be a good outcome given that some other full-service carriers have struggled against competition from low-cost rivals, Raenoo said.

The carrier signed an agreement with Airbus in March to explore joint development of a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at U-Tapao International Airport near the tourist destination of Pattaya.

The project could involve about $1bn investment and the plans may be finalised in 2018, Areepong said at the conference in Bangkok on Thursday.