Travel Thailand's Aviation Sector Soars with FAA's Category 1 Safety Upgrade

[Patong2021]

 

 

15 hours ago, bubba said:

TG’s Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft both have the range to fly nonstop from Bangkok (BKK) to major US cities such as Los Angeles (LAX) or New York (JFK), which are roughly 7,950–8,650 nautical miles apart.

 

Thank you for providing an intelligent response.

 

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Direct flights from Bangkok to Los Angeles would be amazing, and I have to believe that there would be enough demand for it if the pricing was competitive. 

 

The route is over serviced. OZ/KE, CI, BR, CX, SQ, JL, NH, JX and PI,  all have scheduled service, albeit with 1 connection.  In addition are the mainland  Chinese carriers. What is competitive? In  both economy and  premium classes, the carriers are priced close to each other.  The TG route would be direct, and so it could be expected to be 10-20% more expensive as direct routes are  usually more expensive.   Air Canada flies direct from Vancouver. Although a seasonal route, it has reported relatively high passenger load and is often significantly more expensive that connecting options.

 

14 hours ago, malibukid said:

better yet lax to cnx direct

 

There needs to be a market demand, and  there isn't enough to justify  regular service.

 

14 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Would be nice to avoid the 3 hour layover in Taiwan for US connection

 

The layover is good for you if you use it to walk around and have a bit of movement. The  BR/CI schedule isn't that bad as  the flights still arrive   mid morning.

 

11 hours ago, Nickcage49 said:

There aren't any direct flights from the states to Thailand anyway. But maybe this is why they stopped. I remember THAI stopped LAX-BKK direct flights during the pandemic. Before that I think they had direct flights.

 

This article could use a bit more context.

 

The flights were stopped because they were not profitable. Aircraft loads were not high enough to support service.

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

 

 

Thank you for providing an intelligent response.

 

 

The route is over serviced. OZ/KE, CI, BR, CX, SQ, JL, NH, JX and PI,  all have scheduled service, albeit with 1 connection.  In addition are the mainland  Chinese carriers. What is competitive? In  both economy and  premium classes, the carriers are priced close to each other.  The TG route would be direct, and so it could be expected to be 10-20% more expensive as direct routes are  usually more expensive.   Air Canada flies direct from Vancouver. Although a seasonal route, it has reported relatively high passenger load and is often significantly more expensive that connecting options.

 

 

There needs to be a market demand, and  there isn't enough to justify  regular service.

 

 

The layover is good for you if you use it to walk around and have a bit of movement. The  BR/CI schedule isn't that bad as  the flights still arrive   mid morning.

 

 

The flights were stopped because they were not profitable. Aircraft loads were not high enough to support service.

I'm not a CPA or a forensic accountant, so I was not analyzing this from a airline financial point of view. I was simply stating how amazing it would be to have direct flights again from Bangkok to the US, the advantages of that point cannot really be debated logically.

 

More options are usually a good thing! 

[Jerry777]

23 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

 

They are parked up at the airport. No carriers  want to buy them and Thai Air cannot afford to run them. 

 

1.6 billion dollars down the drain.

Not one airline on earth makes money with them, they simply need the seats.

[kiwikeith]

23 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

 

They are parked up at the airport. No carriers  want to buy them and Thai Air cannot afford to run them. 

 

1.6 billion dollars down the drain.

Qantas is running them out of Singapore now flew on one a few days ago, got a surprise to find out what plane it was when boarding, loved the flight 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 4/23/2025 at 9:10 AM, spidermike007 said:

Direct flights from Bangkok to Los Angeles would be amazing, and I have to believe that there would be enough demand for it if the pricing was competitive. 

 

I did a couple of those back in the old days...

 

After weighing that approach vs. my typical Taiwan layover with EVA, I found myself grateful for the in-flight break in Taiwan and the chance to walk around a bit, hit some of the coffee shops or restaurants there, stretch out and relax... before re-boarding for the next segment.

 

Non-stop to LA from BKK makes for a very long trip, especially when you're doing the 14-hour-plus version going against the currents.

 

And as best as I can recall, at least in the old days, taking the nonstop on Thai Air wasn't any bargain pricewise compared to the other carriers' one-stop routes.

 

 

[RandolphGB]

On 4/24/2025 at 8:32 AM, kiwikeith said:

Qantas is running them out of Singapore now flew on one a few days ago, got a surprise to find out what plane it was when boarding, loved the flight 

 

The six A380s owned by Thai Air have been scrapped. 

 

Yes, the service provided on the double deckers by the likes of Qatar and Emirates is very impressive. Thailand doesn't  have the workforce, English skills or culture needed for that same level of customer service. Nor the passenger demand or business efficiency. 

 

Thai Airways is now simply a regional flag carrier, a disgraced one at that, with no ability or aspirations to be an international transit airline like the Middle Eastern carriers can do.

 

 

 

[kiwikeith]

40 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

 

The six A380s owned by Thai Air have been scrapped. 

 

Yes, the service provided on the double deckers by the likes of Qatar and Emirates is very impressive. Thailand doesn't  have the workforce, English skills or culture needed for that same level of customer service. Nor the passenger demand or business efficiency. 

 

Thai Airways is now simply a regional flag carrier, a disgraced one at that, with no ability or aspirations to be an international transit airline like the Middle Eastern carriers can do.

 

 

 

I see a few parked on the runways at Suvarnabhumi, they have not been sold it seems so what are they going to do with them, at the moment they are baking in the sun.

[kiwikeith]

42 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

 

The six A380s owned by Thai Air have been scrapped. 

 

Yes, the service provided on the double deckers by the likes of Qatar and Emirates is very impressive. Thailand doesn't  have the workforce, English skills or culture needed for that same level of customer service. Nor the passenger demand or business efficiency. 

 

Thai Airways is now simply a regional flag carrier, a disgraced one at that, with no ability or aspirations to be an international transit airline like the Middle Eastern carriers can do.

 

 

 

I spoke to a friend of mine who flies 747's regularly around the globe ,he said many hostess's on these airlines are Thai.

[Emdog]

first trip to Thailand was in 1982, on Thai, Seattle-Tokyo-BKK. Nice enough...

So I suppose good news Thai is back to status it had in 1980's....

[Yagoda]

On 4/23/2025 at 9:58 AM, Srikcir said:

Would be nice to avoid the 3 hour layover in Taiwan for US connection

Yeah, 15 hours in the air.

 

Anything direct out of any Asia country but Japan sucks to LA, and is even worse to NYC.

 

Ive been using Frankfurt. 11 hours direct, lay over, another 11 to the satellite east coast.

[Suetape]

Loved JFK-BKK!  

[TexasCowboy]

#1.  Can they fill business class at full fares between LAX and BKK with no connecting traffic?   That probably makes the flight profitable.  If it is just filled to the brim with budget economy passengers, that usually doesn't make an airline money.

 

#2. United will probably give them a great run for the money because they can collect all those connecting passengers from all over the country.

 

#3.  14hour-16hour flight, so they would need 3 aircraft to service it.  Do they have 3 A380s to unmothball, or 3 777s sitting around to put into service?   When do the 787 deliveries start to happen?  Maybe 2029 or 2030?

 

#4.  Are they profitable today...I see the press releases that have positive spin, but I never see net profit.  Just EBITA or revenue, not bottom line.  Are they cash flow positive yet?  Many Asian airlines struggling and looks like traffic died in Feb/March on many big well know airlines.  What happened at TG so far?

[bamnutsak]

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-grows-its-leading-pacific-network-with-new-flights-to-bangkok-ho-chi-minh-city-adelaide-and-manila-302418117.html

 

One stop service daily via HKG. UA 821/822 starting Oct 26

 

UAL had an earnings call last week, they announced some cutbacks (mostly domestic), so these may stick.

[impulse]

On 4/23/2025 at 10:10 AM, spidermike007 said:

Direct flights from Bangkok to Los Angeles would be amazing, and I have to believe that there would be enough demand for it if the pricing was competitive. 

 

TBH, if you're not living on the 3 coasts, you're going to have a layover somewhere.  Whether that's in the US or Korea, or... or... doesn't really matter to me.  Except that most major international airports are nicer places to lay over than the US airports.  Unless they've been upgraded since I last flew through them.  Some of them were an embarrassment.

 

(I say 3 coasts because I recall a non-stop to Houston from years past.)

 

I'm gonna risk some wrath here and conjecture that this may all be related to trade negotiations, and not just air stuff.