THAI expects Cabinet nod next month for purchase of new aircraft

By PHUWIT LIMVIPHUWAT 
THE NATION

 

Sumeth Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways International

 

SUMETH Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways International, said he expects the Cabinet to approve the airline’s proposal to purchase new aircraft by next month.

 

He also revealed that the national carrier wants to buy additional aircraft in the next five years, with the long-term aim to bring the airline’s fleet numbers up from 100 to 125. 

 

“It is necessary to increase the number of aircraft if we want to keep up with the growing market,” he told reporters yesterday, adding that the commercial aviation market was growing by 3 per cent yearly. 

 

“If we fail to boost our fleet, we stand to lose 10 per cent of the market share in the next three to five years,” he cautioned. 

 

“We need to push for progress in terms of a larger fleet as soon as possible. The Cabinet will need to approve our proposal swiftly if Thai Airways is to keep up with the high competition.” 

 

The proposal to acquire new aircraft, however, will not necessarily boost the airline’s fleet, he said, because old craft will need to be replaced. “Even after the Cabinet’s approval, it will be at least two more years before the new aircraft will be put in use, as we will need to proceed in line with the regulatory and purchasing process,” he said. 

 

However, Sumeth did not reveal any details of the airline’s ongoing business recovery plans. 

 

In this year’s third quarter, Thai Airways made a net loss of Bt4.082 billion, higher than the Bt2.107 billion net loss last year, as per figures revealed by the Stock Exchange of Thailan. 

 

The airline’s revenue for the third quarter this year stands at Bt149.24 billion, compared to Bt190.53 billion in 2017. 

 

Thai Airways also signed a memorandum of understanding with PTT Oil and Retail yesterday in a move to boost business, such as selling Thai Catering products via Amazon Cafe’s 70 branches across the nation by the end of next year. 

 

“We started making Thai Catering products available in five Amazon Cafes since May and aim to expand this number to 12 outlets by the end of this year, and start selling nationwide by 2019,” Sumeth said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30359336

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-27

Must be great doing business at the taxpayers expense. Mo need to be financially sound and all.

Just buy and receive new brown envelopes too.

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Thai Airways will get the cabinet nod q.uickly, before the election, so cabinet members can be inline for the kickbacks

There guys buys new airplanes like buying socks at the local market, with earning in the red, uncompetitive routes and pricing, aging sorely faced  cabin stuff, many differents kinds of aircrafts in the fleet and they splurge big year after year...

They sure need more planes to keep up the uncompetitive prices already on offer ????

THAI has a good safety record , it may have overpriced fares but atleast it gets you there in one piece which is more than you can say about other local carriers. LOL.

 

THAI desperately needs to recruit foreign professionals who understand the airline business ..ie  SQ  and QF  people.

They have to get rid of all the quacks and cronies from the military who know nothing about business only brown envelopes and free overseas holidays with family and/or mai nois.

It will likely never happen.

Pathetic !

9 minutes ago, lanista said:

THAI has a good safety record , it may have overpriced fares but atleast it gets you there in one piece which is more than you can say about other local carriers. LOL.

 

THAI desperately needs to recruit foreign professionals who understand the airline business ..ie  SQ  and QF  people.

They have to get rid of all the quacks and cronies from the military who know nothing about business only brown envelopes and free overseas holidays with family and/or mai nois.

It will likely never happen.

Pathetic !

There are at least 3 Thai Airways crashes I am aware of in Phuket, Katmandhu & Surat Thani

No mention of the type of a/c or which types need replacing. Will they keep the A380s ?

a failing business with billions of thai money being pumped into it, and i know what, lets buy 25 more planes, if that was a private company, it would have gone bust years ago, just for the prestige, the old Thai way of thinking as per , the hotel industry, * oh, we got no customers, lets hike up the rentals, to cover our loss* (or in their case, buy more planes)

Whenever I go to the airport (every 6 weeks) I see about 20 Thai planes parked in the field and therefore not used. Why they need to buy new ones? They should focus on their customer services and frequent Flyer program to get more loyal customers. But just in these fields they have a great backlog demand.

58 minutes ago, Valentine said:

There are at least 3 Thai Airways crashes I am aware of in Phuket, Katmandhu & Surat Thani

Youre right. I stand corrected.  Actually i am shocked.  They've had five  fatals of which 4 were big and two were in Phuket  ??  <deleted> !

I wasnt aware of that.  Gee... they managed to keep them quiet. Ive been here for years.

I'm not flying with them . <deleted>

You try to give THAI a leg up and get slapped  in the face for your troubles.

Their safety record isn't good. Their prices are ridiculous. Their service is poor. 

 

What should they do? Buy more planes ????

23 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

Their safety record isn't good. Their prices are ridiculous. Their service is poor. 

 

What should they do? Buy more planes ????

 

But but Mr. Sumeth already announced that they will win many customers by showing Thai soap operas on their flights (note: on some it will be just the big screen because they still don't have small seat back screens on a number of aircraft).

 

Question: Do passengers want to see on every flight young Thai ladies being raped, subjected to violence and emotional abuse, held at gunpoint, threatened with hunting knives and young men showing anger and aggression and fighting over girls?

 

Maybe i'm out of date but this is the last thing I would want to see as a feature on any inflight on screen entertainment. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

THAI expects Cabinet nod next month for purchase of new aircraft

Yeah, wink-wink nod-nod...... buy those new planes.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

“If we fail to boost our fleet, we stand to lose 10 per cent of the market share in the next three to five years,”

Last June 2017 the strategy was in part:

• Offset low profit margin (1-2%) ticket sales revenue by expanding its high-margin business units through  promotion of services such as catering, cargo operations and on-ground activities such as providing ticket sales and baggage handling for other airlines;
• Build up human resources, especially the young generations and rising stars, through training activities;
• Form an alliance with Bangkok Airways for code-sharing on some routes;
• Acquire 28 new aircraft (bringing total fleet to 100) to provide a higher capacity, enabling it to offer more seats and sell tickets at higher prices.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30321675

And now

8 hours ago, webfact said:

In this year’s third quarter, Thai Airways made a net loss of Bt4.082 billion, higher than the Bt2.107 billion net loss last year

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The airline’s revenue for the third quarter this year stands at Bt149.24 billion, compared to Bt190.53 billion in 2017. 

Maybe time to rethink last year's strategies and new acquisitions?

6 hours ago, Darcula said:

Yeah, wink-wink nod-nod...... buy those new planes.

Firm and familiar everyday plutocracy at work. 

Seems to be only generating system that exist worldwide.

 

Ain't it grand...

Always easy to spend other people's money ?

21 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Their safety record isn't good. Their prices are ridiculous. Their service is poor. 

 

What should they do? Buy more planes ????

 

Or, get new uniforms?

22 hours ago, Prince77 said:

Whenever I go to the airport (every 6 weeks) I see about 20 Thai planes parked in the field and therefore not used. Why they need to buy new ones? They should focus on their customer services and frequent Flyer program to get more loyal customers. But just in these fields they have a great backlog demand.

I think they still own 9 A 340 jets after the government bought one. They need to account for their complete inventory of airplanes.

I am always surprised whenever I get into/leave from Souvannaphoum airport. Specially if you are given the ride with the bus across the entire airport (happened twice arriving on Thai Smile from Udon). 

There are never less than 12 aircraft in Thai livery standing idle around and, by the set-up (no stairs, doors closed etc. these planes are parked there and not in the process of passengers (dis-)embarking.

Mind boggling, as I believe airlines only make money when aircraft are flying and not only parked around somewhere ........... 

Prior to my retirement I flew long haul flights every month. Always business class and always carrier was up to me. Only flew Thai once. Moscow to Bangkok. Poor quality food. Older aircraft. Poor entertainment selection and mediocre cabin service. Over priced. Never flew them again.

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