Thai Airways offers cargo service on passenger seats as alternative revenue source

[webfact]

 

By Panithan Onthaworn

 

Thai Airways International (THAI) is offering cargo-in-cabin flights, where cargo is stored in the aircraft’s cabin, to seek revenue as air travel demand has not yet fully recovered.

 

THAI executive Supoj Charoensuk said on Thursday that Thai Airways has kicked off its first cargo-in-cabin flight carrying antigen test kits (ATKs) from Bangkok to Australia this week. 

 

“The cargo-in-cabin solution aims to optimize the cabin space of cargo flights,” Supoj said, adding that it would generate more revenue for the airline. 

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/37200/thai-airways-offers-cargo-service-on-passenger-seats-as-alternative-revenue-source/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2022-02-04

 

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[RichardColeman]

Said it last week, there was only 21 people on my 777 Thai flight to BKK from heathrow  on 27th Jan. They better do something, as unless this daft government lift restrictions very very soon, Thai Air will be in more financial problems than they were before

[Virt]

If i can fit in a box do i get a discount from Copenhagen to Bangkok?

[Soikhaonoiken]

Thai Airways is now very desperate..... 

[steven100]

why not try selling puff pastries ......      oh wait  !  silly me,   they already tried that    !!

[RichardColeman]

Incidentally , Thai Airways had stopped serving free beer on the flights - unless with the meals. Luckily the steward gave me 4 with my meal !

[GrandPapillon]

Lufthansa had 2,500 ghost flights last year just to keep their landing slots open,

 

I wonder how many Thai airways had ghost flights over last year, probably a lot

[ezzra]

Yeah.. the cargo can't complain of the poor service and the rest of the reasons why TG lost the plot and went down the tube from a once the glory of Thailand to.. I better not say what...

[RJRS1301]

Surely placing nets over the boxes to hold them in place during turbulance should be considered, as they do not look too secure to me. I would not them bouncing around the cabin if severe turbulance encountered.

 

[bluejets]

Great idea, but the sight of only one flimsy seatbelt (strap I should say)  over the top of the boxes immediately put me off.

Can just see the aircraft hitting turbulance and getting wacked in the head by flying boxes.

Metal lathe....certainly Sir.

Row 5, seats A,B and C, and don't forget to "buckle up" now.

[tonray]

"coffee, tea or packing tape sir ?"'

[Highend Expat]

4 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

Thai Airways is now very desperate..... 

And the Chinese they want so desperately are not coming anytime soon. Perhaps for several more years at the soonest. China's economy is falling to bits and the government is not giving visas and making quarantine prohibitive. The CCP wants Chinese to spend money in China... Not likely to change soon. 

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

Can just see the aircraft hitting turbulance and getting wacked in the head by flying boxes.

 

These are cargo-only flights.

 

No self-loading freight (SLF) to get whacked.

 

Many airlines have been doing this for a while...increased revenue, maintain flight crew qualifications, keep landing slots, etc.

[JoePai]

Do the business section boxes pay more than cattle class boxes ?

[Sydebolle]

"The cargo-in-cabin solution aims to optimize the cabin space of cargo flights,” the airline's executive  Supoj said."

May I suggest to give Khun Supoj the tour through the inside of an aircraft as the picture certainly does not show the standard inside livery of a cargo flight.

The idea is not now though; I flew on Tupolevs and Antonovs in the late 70s/early 80s when the Soviets ran flights from Rangoon via Vientiane to Saigon and Phnom Penh. You could find all sorts of "cargo" in the passenger compartment. The more silent one was car tires and shoe boxes (with shoes I assume); on a Lao Aviation flight they managed live chicken in cages. Another beauty was Burma Airways with some Fokker-27 (or so?); they managed to tie two dogs on leashes between the cockpit and the cabin - never a dull moment! 

My strange feeling today is, that Aeroflot and (meanwhile defunct) Lao Aviation back in the day were better off than Thai Airways International today ..........

[JayBird]

Have that considered lowering their rates?  I think it's the most expensive solution out of here, esp business class.

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

Great idea, but the sight of only one flimsy seatbelt (strap I should say)  over the top of the boxes immediately put me off.

Can just see the aircraft hitting turbulance and getting wacked in the head by flying boxes.

Metal lathe....certainly Sir.

Row 5, seats A,B and C, and don't forget to "buckle up" now.

The tie downs don't look great. No worry bout head

Passengers cannot be carried during cargo in cabin operations

TG maximizing revenue on cargo only flights.

[phetphet]

14 minutes ago, JayBird said:

Have that considered lowering their rates?  I think it's the most expensive solution out of here, esp business class.

Unfortunately, the only one (I think) that it flying direct non -stop to the UK at the moment.

 

Passing through business class on a recent flight, it looked dire. EVA has much better seating.

 

Perhaps they should consider mixing passengers and cargo boxes if desperate.

 

Mind you. It wouldn't be much fun being sat between two boxes for twelve hours. ????

 

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

why not try selling puff pastries ......      oh wait  !  silly me,   they already tried that    !!

Boxes of donuts?

[JustAnotherHun]

4 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

Thai Airways is now very desperate..... 

Now?

[herfiehandbag]

34 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

The idea is not now though; I flew on Tupolevs and Antonovs in the late 70s/early 80s when the Soviets ran flights from Rangoon via Vientiane to Saigon and Phnom Penh. You could find all sorts of "cargo" in the passenger compartment. The more silent one was car tires and shoe boxes (with shoes I assume); on a Lao Aviation flight they managed live chicken in cages. Another beauty was Burma Airways with some Fokker-27 (or so?); they managed to tie two dogs on leashes between the cockpit and the cabin - never a dull moment! 

Aeroflot in the 90s seemed to specialise in large card tubs of laundry detergent powder on their flights back to Russia. Presumably you could not get in Russia.

[soi3eddie]

28 minutes ago, JayBird said:

Have that considered lowering their rates?  I think it's the most expensive solution out of here, esp business class.

In typical Thai fashion they raised rates on certain ticket types due to low demand! I used to buy LHR/BKK/LHR full fare economy for £830 R/T in 2019. That same ticket class just cost me £1,230. A 50% increase! I only bought it because I had a free Gold award upgrade to use. Their business class fare at about £2,700 R/T is just not worth the money. Unless they reduce prices, I'll be looking at alternatives once I have used my mileage for the next and possibly final flight with Thai.

 

Strapping "cargo" to the seats as pictured is hardly going to improve Thai's situation. Fools if you ask me.

 

[khunjeff]

36 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

May I suggest to give Khun Supoj the tour through the inside of an aircraft as the picture certainly does not show the standard inside livery of a cargo flight.

It's an all-cargo flight using passenger aircraft. These have been common for many airlines throughout the pandemic.

[AhFarangJa]

Yet China is in the process of banning the practice since December last year, except for covid medical supplies.....https://theloadstar.com/china-cabin-cargo-ban-will-add-to-pressure-on-air-capacity-and-freight-rates/

[mikebell]

1 hour ago, JayBird said:

Have that considered lowering their rates?  I think it's the most expensive solution out of here, esp business class.

It's more expensive to get back in with the Thai testing scam.

[steveyinasia]

Other airlines around the world have been doing this successfully for two years, particularly those locations with no domestic market for travel.  When done Thai Airways, late to the party yet again.

[scorecard]

6 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

Thai Airways is now very desperate..... 

Or perhaps more innovative?

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

In typical Thai fashion they raised rates on certain ticket types due to low demand! I used to buy LHR/BKK/LHR full fare economy for £830 R/T in 2019. That same ticket class just cost me £1,230. A 50% increase! I only bought it because I had a free Gold award upgrade to use. Their business class fare at about £2,700 R/T is just not worth the money. Unless they reduce prices, I'll be looking at alternatives once I have used my mileage for the next and possibly final flight with Thai.

 

Strapping "cargo" to the seats as pictured is hardly going to improve Thai's situation. Fools if you ask me.

 

Revenue is revenue. Further, if it is done as per the photo, seems to me there's very small 'set-up, operational costs/work':

 

- A covering over the seats, not expensive, no special skills needed, quick.

- And the standard seat fittings are ideal to tie the boxes down, again easy to execute and no special skills required. And easy to remove the boxes at the destination.

 

Revenue is revenue.

[Misterwhisper]

The question I have is: will those parcels receive hot towels and be handed tiny packets of peanuts? Or is the airline skimping on these?

[Enoon]

4 hours ago, bluejets said:

Great idea, but the sight of only one flimsy seatbelt (strap I should say)  over the top of the boxes immediately put me off.

Can just see the aircraft hitting turbulance and getting wacked in the head by flying boxes.

Metal lathe....certainly Sir.

Row 5, seats A,B and C, and don't forget to "buckle up" now.

If you look at the side rows you will see they are strapped fore and aft (blue strap) as well as over the top (orange strap).

 

Can you really not see that?

 

I do not think it unreasonable to assume that the blue straps in the front row of the centre block are out of frame.