Thai Airways International (THAI) has made a U-turn on its decision to end its flights to Rome, scheduled for Feb 1.
The flag carrier sees the potential of reviving high traffic over its Bangkok-Rome route after promising results over the past five months.
THAI's Rome services were originally due to be terminated on Oct 25 last year as part of the cash-strapped airline's rehabilitation plan that saw it dropping a series of loss-ridden long-haul flights.
But calls by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and tourism industry, concerned that the suspension would cripple efforts to attract European tourists, prompted the airline to postpone the termination until Feb 1.
THAI's Rome flights, running four times a week and served by Boeing 777-200ER jets, will stay on the airline's schedule indefinitely, said a THAI insider.
The airline's other Italian route, Bangkok-Milan, at thrice a week, also remains.
THAI president Charamporn Jotikasthira recently announced the airline's route rationalisation has been completed, suggesting no more routes would be axed and the performance of each active route seems to be satisfactory.
Suspending routes with heavy losses forms a critical part of the business turnaround, which has yet to see any results.
The airline posted 18.1 billion baht in net losses in the first nine months of last year, with concerns that losses for 2015 could exceed the record of 21.3 billion posted in 2008.
Keeping the Rome service came as the airline aims to maintain its European operations, which account for roughly a third of its annual turnover. Further retreat from European airspace would diminish its remaining market share on the continent, which has been significantly eroded by the "big three" Gulf carriers -- Emirates, Etihad and Qatar -- which also serve Bangkok with high-capacity aircraft.
THAI flies to 11 European cities including Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm and Zurich.