Thai Airways International and its subsidiaries reported a 4.68-billion-baht net loss in the third quarter of this year and 10.91-billion-baht net loss for the first nine months, THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham said on Friday.
He said such losses were normal for airlines amid fierce competition and price dumping to win customers.
"More than 20 airlines worldwide have shut down, including large ones," Mr Sumeth said.
THAI and its subsidiaries posted overall revenue of 45.02 billion baht in the third quarter of 2019. The figure dropped by 6.1% from the same period last year, he said.
For expenditure, THAI revealed only its own figure at 47.86 billion baht, 7.8% less than last year.
The cabin factor of THAI and its subsidiaries was 80.0% compared with 77.5% in the same period last year. The airline served 6.06 million passengers, up by 0.8%.
Mr Sumeth predicted the national airline would post a loss of less than 3 billion baht in the last quarter of this year, which is the high season. Just a few days ago, he said he hoped the airline could reduce its full-year loss to 2.2 billion baht, from an expected 10 billion.
He said he expected the airline to make a profit next year.
THAI shares closed on the SET at 7.60 baht, up 20 satang, in trade worth 20.7 million baht.
