Thai Airways

[Lazy Sod]

I keep reading about TG investing in their service. Anybody flew BKK-LHR-BKK lately? If so do they have personal TV's in economy yet? Any other comments?

[Walky26]

Flew LHR-BKK-LHR in August and they were using the old 747-400 which didn't have personal TV's in economy. They just had a large screen infront of the center rows.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Walky26

[mallorca284673]

Thai are still using old 747's into and out of london, flew with them yesterday.

as Walky26 said no personal IFE only large screen in economy - only business & first have personal screens with good IFE

investment has'nt reached this route yet

[Ricardo]

I believe that, for a short while after the recession hit, they were using the smaller A340s on some days/flights, which have seat-back TV throughout, but are now back to the ageing B747-400s again. Pity ... how do they think they can get away with this, these days ?

[Lazy Sod]

Thanks guys. What a shame, I used to prefer TG many years ago. How do they get away with it!

[steve187]

The average age of the Thai B747 fleet is 14 years old

[apetley]

Wifey used Thai on the BKK to LHR route recently and complained how old the plane was and the lack of entertainment.

Food was good according to her so that's ok then!

[stewy]

I flew with them last year and it is only the large TV's in economy. Added to this the choice was v. bad and they showed some really old documentary from the 70's or something. That aside the service is second to none, they really look after you and the food was ok. I have bought a DVD player for travelling now.

[tw25rw]

The A340 was pretty good in economy.. Shame they could't stick with them. Big things are planned for their fleet, but the LHR-BKK route still has an old cabin. I just wish they would bring in premium economy on the route so I didn't have to fork out for a seat with a bit of room.

[wileycoyote]

The A340 was pretty good in economy.. Shame they could't stick with them. Big things are planned for their fleet, but the LHR-BKK route still has an old cabin. I just wish they would bring in premium economy on the route so I didn't have to fork out for a seat with a bit of room.

I agree ,considering the Heathrow route is one of TG's oldest & busiest ,you would think that TG Management would some make effort to make it a more pleasant flight.

Is this just wishful thinking ?

[theoldgit]

I agree ,considering the Heathrow route is one of TG's oldest & busiest ,you would think that TG Management would some make effort to make it a more pleasant flight.

Is this just wishful thinking ?

I think wishful thinking.

You are right that it seems this route is one of Thais busiest and most expensive routes. I stopped flying Thai, on this route many years ago, but friends who still do say it's usually pretty full so I presume their thinking is people are flying the route so why bother to upgrade.

[trainman34014]

I agree ,considering the Heathrow route is one of TG's oldest & busiest ,you would think that TG Management would some make effort to make it a more pleasant flight.

Is this just wishful thinking ?

I think wishful thinking.

You are right that it seems this route is one of Thais busiest and most expensive routes. I stopped flying Thai, on this route many years ago, but friends who still do say it's usually pretty full so I presume their thinking is people are flying the route so why bother to upgrade.

Thai flights to and from London are usually full because they compete well on prices FROM England. However; they have a lot more competition, particularly from the Middle Eastern airlines, when you are booking from Thailand and for some reason they do not compete well. Seems they are happy to fill their seats from the London end. Many of the passengers from that end are not looking for all the niceties, they are just 'going on holiday' and are quite often used to charter flights with cramped cabins and lousy food and service.

[silverdales]

I fly it and the seat pitch is very good and the service nice and it makes you feel like you are in Thailand before you are!!! ---- My Iphone is fine for the flight watch videos no worries!

[KunMatt]

I now use any alternative airline to Thai Air if possible as, to me, they are a 2 star airline with 5 star prices. They also have outrageous customer service and their fees for changing and/or cancelling a flight are over the top.

I flew AirAsia X from KL to Stanstead last year; their premium seats promo (business class equivalent) was cheaper than Thai Airlines economy and it turned out to be the best flight of my life as I literally slept from take off to landing in a leather bed! The food was rubbish but I would definitely rather go with them than TG.

Next time I will probably fly Emirates. It's around the same price as TG from BKK to London with a conntection in Dubai, but Emirates are one of the best airlines I've flown and you feel like you're getting your moneys worth, whereas with TG you feel like you are just putting up with their crap quality for an expensive direct flight.

Until Thai Air either drop their price, or improve their quality to be more in line for what they charge, I will continue to avoid them.

[bkk_mike]

The reason they're still running the decrepit 747s is that A380s they ordered to replace them are late.

They'll get replaced as soon as Airbus delivers the new planes. (at least one of them is destined for the London route).

As for people from the UK not caring about IFE. It's more likely that they never considered that Thai didn't have seat-back TVs. I remember being surprised about it first time I flew with them and that was over 10 years ago.

[smokie36]

The reason they're still running the decrepit 747s is that A380s they ordered to replace them are late.

They'll get replaced as soon as Airbus delivers the new planes. (at least one of them is destined for the London route).

As for people from the UK not caring about IFE. It's more likely that they never considered that Thai didn't have seat-back TVs. I remember being surprised about it first time I flew with them and that was over 10 years ago.

Thai will be doing themselves no favours if the LHR-BKK route is only partially served by the A380. Certainly I wouldn't dream of chancing economy on the 747. What a joke.

[pandanasbearz]

Thai ordered 8 A380s. 4 for use on the BKK - LHR - BKK routes and 4 more for other destinations. Thai may reopen the BKK - JFK route using the A380 as well.

Also, Thai may also use the staggered configuration for their J class on the A380.

[apetley]

The reason they're still running the decrepit 747s is that A380s they ordered to replace them are late.

They'll get replaced as soon as Airbus delivers the new planes. (at least one of them is destined for the London route).

As for people from the UK not caring about IFE. It's more likely that they never considered that Thai didn't have seat-back TVs. I remember being surprised about it first time I flew with them and that was over 10 years ago.

The reason that the A380's are late is not because of any delays on Airbus's part but because Thai is so financially strapped that they couldn't honour the agreed delivery date and had to delay to a later date or pay a huge cancellation penalty.

[KunMatt]

The reason that the A380's are late is not because of any delays on Airbus's part but because Thai is so financially strapped that they couldn't honour the agreed delivery date and had to delay to a later date or pay a huge cancellation penalty.

I really wish that Thai Air have to pay a huge cancellation penalty on an already extremely overpriced service. That would be sweet.

And I also hope that every time they call up Airbus about it they get no answer for hours on end and when they do get through they have to talk to a different incompetent fool who tells them something different each time and leaves them with no choice or chance whatsoever, and in the end they have to go through the worst case scenario for the worst case service for the most expensive possibility.

I am, of course, ironically referring to what Thai Air has done to me each time I flew with them.

[tartempion]

Thai ordered 8 A380s. 4 for use on the BKK - LHR - BKK routes and 4 more for other destinations. Thai may reopen the BKK - JFK route using the A380 as well.

Also, Thai may also use the staggered configuration for their J class on the A380.

according http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airbus_A380_orders_and_deliveries Thai ordered 6 A380, first delivery 2012