Thai International - Delays for A380 to London

[AyG]

Thai was supposed to be introducing the A380 for the Bangkok-London route in December.

They've just announced that there's going to be a delay of at least 11 months in launching the service.

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

Once again, Thailand and its visitors have been let down by the country's national airline.

-----

A380 Delay for Thai Airways’ London-Bangkok fleet

Thai Airways regrets to announce that due to important technical modifications, the A380 will not be able to commence its operation on the Heathrow- Bangkok route as planned from December 1, 2013.

Tentative operational date has been set on 30 October 2014.

When introduced, the A380, the world’s largest aircraft will operate the London-Bangkok day flight whilst the A346 will be re-introduced to the overnight flight.

Until next winter and the introduction of the A380, Thai Airways will continue to use its B747 on the route, leading on to over 70 cities across 5 continents. THAI constantly has special promotions so check out the website for the latest deals.

The introduction of the A380 will make flying between London and Bangkok an even more enjoyable and unforgettable experience and we can only apologise for the unforeseen delay.

Further information: www.thaiairways.co.uk; 0844 561 0911.

-- THAI Airways

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/07/a380-delay-for-thai-airways-london-bangkok-fleet/

[jpinx]

Never mind - there's plenty of choice

[gerry1011]

Thai was supposed to be introducing the A380 for the Bangkok-London route in December.

They've just announced that there's going to be a delay of at least 11 months in launching the service.

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

Once again, Thailand and its visitors have been let down by the country's national airline.

You look like a funny guy...

[NanLaew]

Thai was supposed to be introducing the A380 for the Bangkok-London route in December.

They've just announced that there's going to be a delay of at least 11 months in launching the service.

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

Once again, Thailand and its visitors have been let down by the country's national airline.

Nice THAI bash.

Boeing is delaying delivery to THAI due to some rework on the last 2 of the 6 planes THAI has ordered. Those last 2 planes were destined for the London and Sydney routes. Nothing THAI can do about that apart from secure alternative aircraft on short-term leases. THAI may even reinstate the A340-600 on the second (overnight) Heathrow slot.

[brommers]

Er, the A380 is made by Airbus not Boeing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[tw25rw]

They'll be using their A380s elsewhere so there's no reason for the airline to be that bothered.

[NanLaew]

Er, the A380 is made by Airbus not Boeing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Oops! Story is still the same though. Airbus have delivery issues, nothing to do with THAI.

[howzat]

Lived here for 15 years. Stopped flying Thai 5 years ago as many other options but its all down to personal choice. You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

[bubba]

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

What's so "crappy" about 747s?

Actually, I am not so keen on A380s. I was on a completely sold out Emirates A380 last week, together with 495 other passengers. Check-in was OK for me as I was flying business, but I would not have wanted to be in the queue for economy. At the time I checked in there appeared to be more than 200 people snaking through the check-in circuit. Boarding was well-organised by Emirates for business class, but there were more than 400 economy passengers all crowding and jostling for boarding. And then there is the surge to immigration and waiting for luggage with your 495 fellow passengers.

It seems like Airbus have successfully sold the "bigger is better" idea on their A380, but so long as the interior accommodations are fitted out well, give me a smaller aircraft with fewer passengers any time.

Regarding Thai, economy seats have about 3" less seat pitch on their A380 compared to their 747-400.

[AyG]

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

What's so "crappy" about 747s?

Nothing wrong with 747s - it's just Thai's version of them.

No flat beds in business class on both the old and refurbished planes. Seats uncomfortable.

The unrefurbished planes don't have a seatback entertainment system, and with the upgraded ones the entertainment system box under the seat in front takes up a lot of leg room.

Generally, with the unrefurbished planes the upholstery is rather shabby.

[laurentbkk]

I have stopped to fly TG for years now, worse biz class ever .... there are better and cheaper options .

[Notstupid30]

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

What's so "crappy" about 747s?

Actually, I am not so keen on A380s. I was on a completely sold out Emirates A380 last week, together with 495 other passengers. Check-in was OK for me as I was flying business, but I would not have wanted to be in the queue for economy. At the time I checked in there appeared to be more than 200 people snaking through the check-in circuit. Boarding was well-organised by Emirates for business class, but there were more than 400 economy passengers all crowding and jostling for boarding. And then there is the surge to immigration and waiting for luggage with your 495 fellow passengers.

It seems like Airbus have successfully sold the "bigger is better" idea on their A380, but so long as the interior accommodations are fitted out well, give me a smaller aircraft with fewer passengers any time.

Regarding Thai, economy seats have about 3" less seat pitch on their A380 compared to their 747-400.

True plus they only got done up last year ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5f2q-BwqHE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhdDQ9A2_w

Edited July 9, 2013 by Notstupid30

[wedders]

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

What's so "crappy" about 747s?

Actually, I am not so keen on A380s. I was on a completely sold out Emirates A380 last week, together with 495 other passengers. Check-in was OK for me as I was flying business, but I would not have wanted to be in the queue for economy. At the time I checked in there appeared to be more than 200 people snaking through the check-in circuit. Boarding was well-organised by Emirates for business class, but there were more than 400 economy passengers all crowding and jostling for boarding. And then there is the surge to immigration and waiting for luggage with your 495 fellow passengers.

It seems like Airbus have successfully sold the "bigger is better" idea on their A380, but so long as the interior accommodations are fitted out well, give me a smaller aircraft with fewer passengers any time.

Regarding Thai, economy seats have about 3" less seat pitch on their A380 compared to their 747-400.

Flew THAI Paris Bkk three weeks ago. The long queue at check-in as soon as it opened disappeared very rapidly as plenty of desks were open. No complaints at all.

As for immigration at Suvarnabhumi, the extra number of passengers on a single flight arrival made no difference whatsoever. We were through very quickly. I've had far longer waits coming off half-empty A340s. All depends on how busy the airport is as a whole and whether immigration is on the ball on that particular day.

Plus we were sat right in the very last seats in the tail, and disembarking was surprisingly speedy too.

[wedders]

Can't edit on the mobile app... but I was of course referring to an A380 flight above.

[Aachen]

Boarding was well-organised by Emirates for business class, but there were more than 400 economy passengers all crowding and jostling for boarding. And then there is the surge to immigration and waiting for luggage with your 495 fellow passengers.

I had an Emirates 380 flight to BKK/Hongkong once, Economy boarding was fast and efficient. The cabin is nicely partitioned into small groups. You do not see the whole crowd! Departing in BKK was quick, including Immigration handling. So nothing to bother. Even the seats are good and comfortable in Eco!

Edited July 9, 2013 by Aachen

[nachiket]

Tentative operational date has been set on 30 October 2014.

Hope they will figure out everything on war foot until 2016.

[lee b]

Er, the A380 is made by Airbus not Boeing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

got it in 1 !

[koo]

I'm just wondering what technical modifications take 11 months to do, when a brand new aircraft is built in less than a month

The A380 crusade is becoming very expensive for THAI, since the first A380(s) have already been delivered. Now sitting 18 months on these aircrafts, and possibly getting even more deliveries during this waiting period? So in October next year they might have 5-6 of these big birds sitting at Suvarnabhumi gathering dust?

[mikeinbangkok]

I have flown Thai, Emirates as well as Singapore Airlines on the A 380. The Thai configuration is the worse, with more seats in business than the other two airlines mentioned. The aisles are so small the crew members have a hard time taking care of the passengers. The business class on Thai are also much narrower and the upholstery is poor.

My long haul flights on Singapore and Emirates on the 380 were absolute magic while the one flight that I took to Frankfurt was the worse. In this sense I prefer the Thai 747 Business even though they are old.

Being a frequent flier and having been a ROP member since 1993, I am seriously disappointed with the Thai 380 configuration. Sad!

[Stjohnm]

Plenty of choice TG are way down the list when it comes to choosing a carrier to visit home, unless they have an offer on or I have to use up my air-miles I don't even consider them as they're too expensive.

If you're desperate to fly on an A380 aren't Emirates using them on at least one of the sectors on their BKK-DXB-LHR route? & I know SQ are using them on their SIN-LHR route its only a short 2½ hop down there.

[tomross46]

Thai was supposed to be introducing the A380 for the Bangkok-London route in December.

They've just announced that there's going to be a delay of at least 11 months in launching the service.

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

Once again, Thailand and its visitors have been let down by the country's national airline.

Nice THAI bash.

Boeing is delaying delivery to THAI due to some rework on the last 2 of the 6 planes THAI has ordered. Those last 2 planes were destined for the London and Sydney routes. Nothing THAI can do about that apart from secure alternative aircraft on short-term leases. THAI may even reinstate the A340-600 on the second (overnight) Heathrow slot.

The A380 is not made by Boeing. it is made by Airbus in France. The 787 is made by Boeing. Is the problem with Airbus or with Thai International?

[movsrus]

I have flown on A-380 from both Korean Air and Singapore Air between SE Asia and JFK in New York. In both cases, all the economy passenger luggage was deposited on one carousel while business/first class on another. Hordes of people were climbing over one another trying to retrieve their luggage and on the Singapore flight the carousel broke down incurring a 40 minute delay before it began working again. While baggage delivery problems are not the fault of the airline it still inconveniences many people who have to crowd around each other waiting for luggage after enduring a 12 hour plus flight from SE Asia.

I think it is easier to fly on B-747 or B-777 aircraft which have fewer passengers than to crowd into an A-380 but to each his own.

[NanLaew]

I'm just wondering what technical modifications take 11 months to do, when a brand new aircraft is built in less than a month

The A380 crusade is becoming very expensive for THAI, since the first A380(s) have already been delivered. Now sitting 18 months on these aircrafts, and possibly getting even more deliveries during this waiting period? So in October next year they might have 5-6 of these big birds sitting at Suvarnabhumi gathering dust?

In October 2014, they will have all six of the A380's they ordered serving Narita, Singapore, Sydney, Frankfurt, Paris and London.

What dust?

[sandrabbit]

_{If you want cheap (er) business class to the UK then try Sri Lankan for a little more than BA economy and very nice it is too, flew to London last year and Maldives this year. Got my silver card and I will use them for my personal flights when possible, work is whatever I get given economy - sigh.}

[NanLaew]

Thai was supposed to be introducing the A380 for the Bangkok-London route in December.

They've just announced that there's going to be a delay of at least 11 months in launching the service.

Once again, Thai is way behind the curve in terms of international service, and customers will be expected to pay an over-the-top price to fly in outdated, crappy Boeing 747s.

Once again, Thailand and its visitors have been let down by the country's national airline.

Nice THAI bash.

Boeing is delaying delivery to THAI due to some rework on the last 2 of the 6 planes THAI has ordered. Those last 2 planes were destined for the London and Sydney routes. Nothing THAI can do about that apart from secure alternative aircraft on short-term leases. THAI may even reinstate the A340-600 on the second (overnight) Heathrow slot.

The A380 is not made by Boeing. it is made by Airbus in France. The 787 is made by Boeing. Is the problem with Airbus or with Thai International?

Sorry about the typo... already spotted yesterday.

Just google for A380 delays due to wing cracks' and there's some reading. For example;

"Wing modification work on Emirates' Airbus A380 fleet has begun around two months later than planned due to late arrival of new aircraft.

The repair programme, designed to address wing cracks, will cover 34 Emirates A380s and is due to be completed by the end of next year.

"The modifications were due to begin in mid-March, but the first aircraft only went into modification in early May," says Tim Clark, president of the Dubai-based carrier. "We need to receive the new aircraft to backfill the fleet and maintain the route network when we release A380s for modification. There's been quite a long delay driven by the lateness of delivery of the new aircraft."

Emirates has just received its 32nd A380, which Clark says was around six weeks late, and has three more undergoing the delivery process in Toulouse. Aircraft delivered from next year will be delivered with wings built to a revised wing structure and will not need repairs after delivery. In the interim, new-build A380s with the original wing specification are having repairs undertaken prior to delivery."

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/late-delivery-delays-start-of-emirates-a380-wing-repairs-385948/

I would reckon that Emirates, having 32 of these behemoths would be getting preferential treatment and any new-builds will be fast-tracked for their fleet 'backfill' as mentioned in the article. Low-priority customers like THAI, with a very small A380 fleet just have to wait.

[ozyjon]

I have flown Thai, Emirates as well as Singapore Airlines on the A 380. The Thai configuration is the worse, with more seats in business than the other two airlines mentioned. The aisles are so small the crew members have a hard time taking care of the passengers. The business class on Thai are also much narrower and the upholstery is poor.

My long haul flights on Singapore and Emirates on the 380 were absolute magic while the one flight that I took to Frankfurt was the worse. In this sense I prefer the Thai 747 Business even though they are old.

Being a frequent flier and having been a ROP member since 1993, I am seriously disappointed with the Thai 380 configuration. Sad!

What is ROP ?

[bubba]

ROP = Royal Orchid Plus, the moniker of Thai Airways' frequent flyer programme.

[ozyjon]

I have flown on A-380 from both Korean Air and Singapore Air between SE Asia and JFK in New York. In both cases, all the economy passenger luggage was deposited on one carousel while business/first class on another. Hordes of people were climbing over one another trying to retrieve their luggage and on the Singapore flight the carousel broke down incurring a 40 minute delay before it began working again. While baggage delivery problems are not the fault of the airline it still inconveniences many people who have to crowd around each other waiting for luggage after enduring a 12 hour plus flight from SE Asia.

I think it is easier to fly on B-747 or B-777 aircraft which have fewer passengers than to crowd into an A-380 but to each his own.

I agree, it's really frustrating trying to get off a plane with so many people now taking their luggage on board to save money, so i really agree if less people are on the plane it will be easier to get on and off and not wait for toilets to vacate and so on,,, bigger is really not better,,,

[sandrabbit]

If I'm coming into Thailand I try to be at the front of the cabin to beat the people to immigration, going elsewhere not bothered and just get an aisle seat in the middle if it's widebody so only one person needs to get past. Been on the Emirates 380 a few times and it's nothing special, would rather be on the 777 which leaves a bit later and even preferred the 340 to Tanzania. If my company paid for us to fly business then that would be different, sigh.

[johnlandy]

Er, the A380 is made by Airbus not Boeing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Oops! Story is still the same though. Airbus have delivery issues, nothing to do with THAI.

And you believe what TG says, it's always someone else's fault, never Thai's.