Thai Airways needs 100bn for upgrade, says chairman

Thai Airways needs 100bn for upgrade, says chairman

Thai Airways International needs new planes for a takeoff to be a premium carrier. (Reuters file photo)
Thai Airways International needs new planes for a takeoff to be a premium carrier. (Reuters file photo)

Thai Airways International has to pay hefty bills to rejoin the ranks of the world's premium airlines.

THAI chairman Ekniti Nitithanprapas on Thursday estimated at least 100 billion baht was needed for the transformation and said the money could come from loans.

His assessment came the same day the flag carrier presented its turnaround plan to the government, with the ultimate goal of becoming a premium airline.

THAI needs to dump old planes and buy 23 new aircraft if it hopes to be among the best.

Mr Ekniti cited the ageing fleet as a problem keeping the airline in the red due to high maintenance costs. (continued below)

Thai Airways International president Sumeth Damrongchaitham presents a plan to turn around the airline to visiting ministers and executives at the head office on Thursday. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)

The carrier has 89 planes, the THAI website says. The fleet's average age is 9.3 years, compared with 7.6 of Singapore Airlines, one of its rivals, according to the www.airfleets.net.

The two airlines used to run neck and neck as the best airline in the world until THAI became indebted and lost its competitiveness. Growing competition from Middle Eastern carriers has exacerbated the situation

Singapore Airlines was voted the best airline this year by Skytrax while Thailand's main carrier stayed at 10th. However, THAI was named the best economy class airline, beating Singapore Airlines, which came second in the category.

THAI reported a net loss of 381.6 million baht in the first half of this year compared to a net loss of 2 billion in the same period last year. In 2017, it reported a net loss of 2 billion baht, compared to a net profit of 15 million in the previous year.

Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said the Finance Ministry, which controls the majority stake, stood ready to support an aircraft purchasing plan to improve its performance and service.

THAI shares shed 0.74% to 13.40 baht on Thursday compared to a 0.13% gain of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.


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