THAI to retire A340-600

[tso310]

http://centreforaviation.com/news/thai-airways-accelerates-a340-600-retirement-to-28-mar-2015-418587

I've never flown on one of these but they are supposed to have a 34inch economy seat making really comfortable for long-haul. With the recent announcement of the dropping of the LHR flights TG916/917 it looks like a major push to reduce losses which are running at about $1 million a day. No mention of staff redundancies yet.

[Jai Dee]

Topic moved to Travel Forum.

/Moved.

[ukrules]

With the recent announcement of the dropping of the LHR flights TG916/917 it looks like a major push to reduce losses...

I must have missed this, they're cancelling flights to London ?

[tw25rw]

With the recent announcement of the dropping of the LHR flights TG916/917 it looks like a major push to reduce losses...

I must have missed this, they're cancelling flights to London ?

Reducing frequency. No longer daily.

[steve187]

With the recent announcement of the dropping of the LHR flights TG916/917 it looks like a major push to reduce losses...

I must have missed this, they're cancelling flights to London ?

Reducing frequency. No longer daily.

still daily but only one flight an A380

[Ricardo]

With the recent announcement of the dropping of the LHR flights TG916/917 it looks like a major push to reduce losses...

I must have missed this, they're cancelling flights to London ?

Yes, cutting one of their two daily flights, the late-evening departure, when they finally put the A380 onto the lunchtime-departure.

Which shows just how much of the popular UK-BKK market they've lost now, and will never regain, accepting defeat by their competitors.

Meanwhile Emirates alone operate 3 daily A380s from Heathrow, 1 A380 & 2 B773s from Gatwick, 2 A380s & a B773 from Manchester, 2 B773s from Birmingham, 2 B773s from Glasgow, 1 B773 from Newcastle and 2 B773s from Dublin.

Which feed 2 A380s and 2 B773s from Dubai to Bangkok, plus a daily B773 direct into Phuket, as well.

So 16 flights daily, from seven airports in the British Isles, compared to one & one for poor old TG !

[Chivas]

Average age of aircraft only 9 years as well......

Only way Thai can ever recover is removal of all the jobs for the boys and free travel for many on every flight.......

[steve187]

Yes Thai are struggling to fill seats while others are busy Cathay 5 flights a day to Hong kong with the same number Hong kong to bangkok and the middle east carriers are pricing Thai out of the game. it would seem that by replacing the A340's they are increasing capacity from those affeced countries but reducing London

[ukrules]

I believe the main reason they're failing is price.

Most people appear to just book the cheapest flight available. Thai often sets its prices much higher than other airlines which probably accounts for a massive loss of sales.

[KhunBENQ]

Wether you like it or not, but the decisions make economical sense.

One flight on the A380 instead of two.

Outphasing the A340 fuel guzzler.

[Chivas]

I believe the main reason they're failing is price.

Most people appear to just book the cheapest flight available. Thai often sets its prices much higher than other airlines which probably accounts for a massive loss of sales.

Course it will totally agree.....

Just put in Oman Emirates Etihad into Travel Supermarket and on average £200 cheaper on Lon-Bkk routing time after time........Yes we know theres a change of motor but many prefer it especially on the nightmare inbound journey

[MickeyM]

I would imagine EVA has also grabbed a good share of the LHR-BKK market with their non-stop. Just flew them last week and they were great.

Also, I have just booked a RT to Copenhagen on SAS, which happens to be a code-share flight on a TG plane; price was cheaper than booking with TG directly. Amazing.

On another non-related issue, whey do TG flight crews on a 60 minute domestic flight then stay overnight at the destination? Must be costly.

[Roger Lee]

I believe the main reason they're failing is price.

Most people appear to just book the cheapest flight available. Thai often sets its prices much higher than other airlines which probably accounts for a massive loss of sales.

Actually the last two times I've flown from UAE to Bangkok non-stop, Thai Airways was the cheapest. Beating out Emirates by about $100 each time. You do need to check their prices on http://www.thaiairways.com though, not Expedia or some other travel booking company.

I agree though, that the staff on Thai Air does seem to be beat down by the arrogance/ignorance of the UAE locals and their planes are certainly dated. There's been more than a few times that I've waited for them to fix the plane first so we could fly. I do enjoy the courtesy the Thais give me when I fly with them, certainly appreciated.

[baboon]

On another non-related issue, whey do TG flight crews on a 60 minute domestic flight then stay overnight at the destination? Must be costly.

Perhaps they are working the first flight back in the morning?

[dundas]

I've only flown on the A340-600 once, it was comfortable, although not as comfortable as the A340-500 series Thai used on non-stops between LAX and BKK: 36" seat pitch in economy, and 42" in premium economy. Not only spacious, but quiet, too, unlike many 777s, which can be incredibly noisy.

[MickeyM]

On another non-related issue, whey do TG flight crews on a 60 minute domestic flight then stay overnight at the destination? Must be costly.

Perhaps they are working the first flight back in the morning?

Not that simple - It appears to occur for every flight; I took a 7AM flight to Surat Thani and the crew was in the same hotel as mine until the following day. Don't you notice that all Thai domestic cabin crews have luggage?