|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 34.23/25 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,350
|
|
BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Thai Airways International has confirmed it will end non-stop Bangkok-Los Angeles flights and replace them with a stopover in Osaka's Kansai International Airport, effective Oct 26.
The national carrier will maintain the frequency of the Bangkok-Los Angeles route, albeit with an Osaka stopover, with five flights a week.
The Los Angeles-bound flights will no longer use the Airbus A340-500, which has ultra-long range capability, using instead the Boeing 777-200ER jetliner, according to THAI executives.
Bangkok-Los Angeles is one of its three money-losing long haul routes that THAI has resolved to drop as they are not viable due to high oil prices.
On July 1, the airline stopped its daily non-stop services between Bangkok and New York and intends to end its non-stop flight between Bangkok and Auckland in October.
Ultra-long haul services are defined as flights involving more than 12,000 km in distance and more than 15 hours of flying time.
The stopover at Kansai will take about an hour with passengers bound for Los Angeles remaining on board during refuelling and boarding of new passengers.
Despite the disadvantage of the stopover, passengers flying to Los Angeles will basically pay the same fare as non-stop ones _ about 65,000 baht for a return economy seat and about 160,000 baht for business class.
There will be no premium economy for the new flights as Boeing 777-200ERs were not fitted with this option. The Boeing 777-200ER offers 30 seats in business and 262 in economy.
THAI is not flying to New York, but will rely on its Star Alliance partner airlines to carry its passengers from other cities it is serving, such as All Nippon Airlines operating non-stop flights from Tokyo Narita International Airport to New York.
Meanwhile, THAI will continue to operate two daily flights from Bangkok to Kansai.
THAI shares closed on Friday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 14.70 baht, down 70 satang, in trade worth 209.8 million baht.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Next
