THAI looking to resume most routes by end of April, return to ‘normalcy’ by mid-year

[Kalasin Jo]

7 hours ago, DFPhuket said:

I've been flying in and out of BKK during Covid times. The Thai planes have been sitting on the tarmac for 2 years with no maintenance. The are dirty on the outside and probably have mildew on the inside. It's going to take a lot longer than a couple of months (and a huge amount of Baht) to get them airworthy again. 

Yes, still there when I flew in yesterday, just where they were when I flew out August 2020.

[DoctorB]

14 hours ago, JonnyF said:

I'll avoid THAI wherever possible.

 

Too many stories of them not refunding cancelled flights from last year. Difficult to trust them after that. I find EVA much better.

Alas EVA don't seem to have much of a timetable for the immediate future. Once a week LHR to BKK seems to be about it for the next few months last time I looked.

[Kinnock]

14 hours ago, JonnyF said:

I'll avoid THAI wherever possible.

 

Too many stories of them not refunding cancelled flights from last year. Difficult to trust them after that. I find EVA much better.

True ..... but Eva not currently flying many routes, such as the old Taipei-Bangkok-London route.

[London Lowf]

14 hours ago, phetphet said:

Just flew back to London on Thai. It was a lot busier than the last one I took in November., but still not full. Mainly tourists heading home from holiday, but a lot of Thais on board as well.

 

It does have one advantage in being the only direct flight to the UK at the moment.

That is a huge advantage - no pre-flight PCR testing required to return to the UK under the current regulations.

 

The fights are about 33% more than a Middle Eastern stopover but it was an easy decision for me, particularly as their flight departure/arrival times are very convenient.

[London Lowf]

8 hours ago, dutchweller said:

Are THAIAIRWAYS going to pay back all the people it owes refunds to? NO?

Why would you trust them?

I booked a Thai Airways flight last year through an agent on my UK MasterCard - Thai cancelled the flights and the agent (Carlton Leisure) wanted a £75 "administration fee" to make my refund. I did a section 75 claim and got the whole lot back.

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

Thailand - Normalcy hub of Asia

[Andycoops]

They can resume all they like, I won't be flying with them because of their ridiculous prices.

[racket]

Normality means no vaccine requirements, and those who are vaccinated who tests positive upon arrival shouldn’t have to be subjected to a prison hospital where they spend thousands of dollars ruining their whole vacation. 

[superal]

I last flew with Thai Air in December 2021 on a one way to the UK at £600 ish . No alternative for a direct flight and I did not want a middle east stop over because of the covid risk .

 

I have since returned to Thailand beginning of January this year and took a chance with a budget airline named Scoot Air who are owned by Singapore Air . Only differences are they fly out of Gatwick , they are a budget airline , meaning if you want to eat or drink you must pay extra which I did when booking and that was about £9.40 for a small curry . Drinks ordered by way of their download app . The total cost for a return trip / direct flights on  fairly new 787 aircraft was £361 . So for the budget conscious this could be a good bet , however they do not start flying the London/Thailand route again until March 22 ND this year but please check for sure and updates .

[Spilornis]

11 minutes ago, superal said:

I have since returned to Thailand beginning of January this year and took a chance with a budget airline named Scoot Air who are owned by Singapore Air .

Thanks

didn't know they were flying to London.

I see the route is Singapore-Bkk- Gatwick

Excellent time to fly (all day time route).

Have flown Scoot long distance on multiple occasions and at the price they're great value

[scorecard]

19 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Sure, just go ahead into normality. Wondering, where the cockpit crews kept their minimum flying hours up and running over the last two years. 

So, for those who are still waiting for eventual refunds - take the jump, all the others have the choice! 

And have the cabin crew been attending or will attend and pass 'compulsory' training / evacuation drills etc., before they resume their flying waitress with attitude duties?

[superal]

2 minutes ago, Spilornis said:

Thanks

didn't know they were flying to London.

I see the route is Singapore-Bkk- Gatwick

Excellent time to fly (all day time route).

Have flown Scoot long distance on multiple occasions and at the price they're great value

        My flight was Gatwick-Bangkok direct ( some passengers did not disembark ) - then onward to Singapore . As you say , great value , have a couple of drinks before departure and have a sleep in flight and time passes quickly with a big money saving flight .

I normally fly to/from Heathrow which is easier for me to get to and I always take a taxi , however the taxi fare is only another tenner by using Gatwick . BTW Gatwick South terminal is closed , every flight was using the north terminal .

[scorecard]

29 minutes ago, scorecard said:

And have the cabin crew been attending or will attend and pass 'compulsory' training / evacuation drills etc., before they resume their flying waitress with attitude duties?

And does working for the 'new Thai', bring the same priviliges, e.g:

 

- Cabin crew who have a certain length of service (I think it's 5 years) have the right to reject their future working schedule and dictate where they want to fly.

 

'I got my flight schedule for the next quarter but I don't want to fly to Europe in the months of xxx xxx, too cold', so I rejected that schedule and told the scheduling office 'give me flights to zzz and jjj during these months'. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by scorecard

[Greenwich Boy]

19 hours ago, tomyami said:

Been a 1 stop trip only choice makes a difference, now if they did a dub to bkk I would too

Strange how priorities differ. I quite like a couple of hours break to stretch my legs. Qatar is my preferred option from London currently but pre covid Emirates were flying from Stansted which was handy for me. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

[Greenwich Boy]

1 hour ago, Spilornis said:

Thanks

didn't know they were flying to London.

I see the route is Singapore-Bkk- Gatwick

Excellent time to fly (all day time route).

Have flown Scoot long distance on multiple occasions and at the price they're great value

Only good experiences with Scoot. As long as you realise that as a budget airline any 'extras' need to be paid for. Used them many times since they took over the CNX to SIN route from Silk. Would certainly give them a go longer haul and heading to Oz it is a good excuse to have a couple of nights in Singapore.

[worrab]

13 hours ago, DoctorB said:

Alas EVA don't seem to have much of a timetable for the immediate future. Once a week LHR to BKK seems to be about it for the next few months last time I looked.

From March they should be flying Weds, Sat and Sun, then in July, back to full daily service. This is as I could work it out as I was looking at their flights for the summer.

[dutchweller]

15 hours ago, London Lowf said:

I booked a Thai Airways flight last year through an agent on my UK MasterCard - Thai cancelled the flights and the agent (Carlton Leisure) wanted a £75 "administration fee" to make my refund. I did a section 75 claim and got the whole lot back.

Yes but people should not have to rely on 3rd parties to get a refund for this scummy Airline.

Thaiairways sould have been dead and buried a long time ago.

 

I for One will NEVER use them again 

 

[London Lowf]

3 hours ago, dutchweller said:

Yes but people should not have to rely on 3rd parties to get a refund for this scummy Airline.

Thaiairways sould have been dead and buried a long time ago.

 

I for One will NEVER use them again 

 

 

My contract, i.e. the beneficiary of my credit card funds, was the agent, not Thai Airways. The airline was not a party in the transaction just like Samsung was not a party in my transaction with a local superstore to buy one of their TVs.

 

Maybe we are unique in the UK in having this kind of consumer protection? True, it was a bit of hassle and delay to get my cash back, but it means that I have no hesitation in booking with Thai again although I now do it directly on their own website - as I said, their flight schedules suit me far better than any other airline.

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by London Lowf
To make it b etter

[3NUMBAS]

many old regulars are brassic and homeless and jobless and savings are depleted for any trips right mow

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

I was thinking about buying THAI as an investment. looks like it is bottoming out, or prices

as close to ZERO. but national airlines usually do not disapear.

governemnts bail them out to save the nation's pride, or at least their friend's jobs.

so i looked for THAI on google finance and came out only with this symbol TAWNF which

is priced at 0.0151 USD.

do you think i could buy THAI from a thai bank account?

 

[phetphet]

20 hours ago, London Lowf said:

no pre-flight PCR testing required to return to the UK under the current regulations.

 

From 11th Feb, no testing whatsoever for UK according to gov't website.

[scorecard]

On 2/7/2022 at 2:54 PM, Guderian said:

The big question is: does Thai Airways lose more money when it's flying normally or when it's grounded by Covid?

It's massive multi billion Baht debt was mostly incurred before Covid- 19 started/before Covid-19 was known.

 

[scorecard]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

It's massive multi billion Baht debt was mostly incurred before Covid- 19 started/before Covid-19 was known.

Quickly after Covid- 19 started a very large % of their flights were cancelled therefore a large % (not all) of the operating costs stopped (e.g. aviation fuel).  But parking their aircraft and some other maintenance costs (including large amounts for salaries and benefits) will be ongoing every month until the whole sorry mess is resolved (if it is ever totally resolved).