The Thai Airways (THAI) board has resolved not to sell its decommissioned aircraft to a British firm representing a Saudi Arabian prince and ordered a study of whether to reuse them.
Authorities are considering possibilities to make use of the planes and will propose the finding to the board by next month, THAI executive vice-president Teerapol Chotichanapibal said.
The board's decision was made last month, though AvCon Worldwide Ltd put down a deposit of US$2.5 million (nearly 79 million baht) for one of four decommissioned Airbus A340-500s under the company's plan to acquire them, according to a source on the THAI board.
The deposit does not impose any legal obligation on THAI because the money serves only as a guarantee for AvCon's purchase.
THAI's sale committee already informed the company before accepting the deposit that the trade needed to be considered and approved by the THAI board, the source said, citing legal advice.
Earlier, Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt was informed by THAI board chairman Ampon Kittiampon that it had to reject the sale because AvCon insisted it would buy one of the aircraft at $23.5 million, though it was much lower than its estimated book value of $66.9 million.
Mr Chadchart believes the rejection will not cause any further impact on diplomatic ties between Thailand and Saudi Arabia which soured after a Thai janitor stole jewellery in 1989 from the Riyadh palace of Prince Faisal al-Saud.
If the four planes are not sold, THAI has to consider using these 215-seat planes to avoid the high cost of having them just sitting idly.
One possibility is to use them in overseas flights with a travelling time of between four and six hours, Mr Teerapol suggested. \Flights to Japan, which peak during high seasons, could be considered.
"It would be OK if [revenues] only cover their maintenance costs," he said. "It's difficult to make profits because of fuel costs of these planes are high."