Thai Airways International (THAI) on Friday reported second-quarter revenue totalling 37.3 billion baht, up 73.7% from the same period last year, as travel demand continues to improve.
Net profit for the quarter was 2.26 billion baht, compared with a net loss of 3.2 billion a year earlier. Profit for the first half was 14.77 billion baht, against a loss of 6.47 billion in the first six months of 2022.
“Total revenue in this quarter was higher than expected and has led us into profit for four consecutive quarters,” CEO Chai Eamsiri said at a press conference on Friday
“THAI should be able to exit its rehabilitation plan earlier than expected, by the fourth quarter of next year, and resume trading on the stock exchange in February 2025.”
The second-quarter revenue figure was 9.9% lower than in the first quarter as the April-June period is the low season for travel, he added.
The national carrier increased the frequency of its flights on high-performing routes such as destinations in Japan and China, carrying a total of 3.35 million passengers there during the quarter. Average cabin occupancy was 79.2%, up from 60.3% during the same period in 2022, Mr Chai said at a press conference on Friday.
Total expenses, excluding one-time transactions, of THAI and its subsidiaries were 28.8 billion baht, up from 22.8 billion a year earlier due to an increase in variable costs, he said.
Operating profit before financial costs and excluding one-time transactions was 8.57 billion baht, a 20-year high and a marked improvement from the second quarter of last year, when it logged a 1.29-billion-baht operating loss.
From January to June, THAI and its subsidiaries earned total revenue of 78.8 billion baht, up 141% from 32.7 billion last year. Total expenses were 57.2 billion baht, up from 37.1 billion a year earlier.
First-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, after the subtraction of cash used to pay for aircraft leases, were 23.3 billion baht.
During the first six months of the year, the average aircraft utilisation rate was 12 hours a day. THAI and its subsidiaries carried 6.87 million passengers, an increase of 127% year-on-year.
THAI is now in talks with the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to continue a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) project at U-tapao Airport, Mr Chai said.
Currently, THAI and its subsidiaries have 67 active aircraft, comprising 20 narrow-bodied planes and 47 wide-body models. In the second quarter, THAI took delivery of two wide-bodied aircraft on an operating lease basis.