THAI takes delivery of state of the art aircraft

[webfact]

THAI takes delivery of state of the art aircraft

 

 

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International on Tuesday took delivery of the first of 12 Airbus A350 XWB (extra wide body) jet airliners it bought from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse, France.

 

THAI president Jarumporn Chotikasathien and senior executives of the national flag carrier were in Toulouse to take delivery of the jet airliner which is due to arrive at Suvarnabhumi international airport on Wednesday morning. The plane will be put into service on the Bangkok-Melbourne route with the maiden flight scheduled on September 15.

 

The first A350 XWB was Royally named Wichien Buri. It has altogether 321 seats, divided into 32 in business class and the rest in economy class.

 

Thai Airways International has become the 8th operator of A350 XWB.

 

Airbus Industrie said that 43 countries had placed orders for a total 810 Airbus A350 XWB regarded as one of the most successful types of the company.

 

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/thai-takes-delivery-state-art-aircraft/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-08-31

[kannot]

i hope they bought a maintenance package too

[z42]

What part of the cost cutting exercise is this then I wonder. As far as I am aware they are still massively in the red and barely profitable even in a time of extremely cheap fuel costs and unprecedented numbers of air travellers. A joke of a purchase given their current circumstances

[Searat7]

They tried to put off delivery of these planes but Airbus said no. I wonder if they managed to sell any of the A-340's yet.

[Oxx]

9 minutes ago, z42 said:

What part of the cost cutting exercise is this then I wonder. As far as I am aware they are still massively in the red and barely profitable even in a time of extremely cheap fuel costs and unprecedented numbers of air travellers. A joke of a purchase given their current circumstances

 

Hardly a joke.  The current fleet is largely ageing and old fashioned.  This makes it difficult for them to attract business.  It's also not fuel efficient keeping fares high.  A modernised fleet could well be a step in the right direction.  If managed correctly (and it's a big "if"), this could be the start of a turnaround for the airline.

[Sphere]

Isn't this a compromise for their cancelled balance of the A380 order?

[OMGImInPattaya]

11 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Hardly a joke.  The current fleet is largely ageing and old fashioned.  This makes it difficult for them to attract business.

Silly me, I always thought it was the ridiculously high fares. But that issue aside, with one of the best managed airlines in the world, Singapore Air, with truly world class hard and soft products, stuggling with the challenge of competing with the ME3 for medium and long-haul international flights, what hope is there for a incompetently run airline like Thai?

[Michael8511]

It's a smart move, the upgraded fleet of A350 are more fuel efficient and will suite good for the European market if SAS now can help them with their safety issues so ICAO can widhdraw the red flag then FAA  will upgrade them to cat I then the new 787 they are getting will be good when they resume flights to the US, I can't wait for Thai to be back. Love their service.

[jobwolf]

I really do not understand why so many people have to fly to Toulouse to receive an Aircraft. Thai has so many money problems, I am sure the money could be spend better then flying Executives all over the place. At least send People who understand the Aircraft and can check it put.

[Veritas48]

All they need now is state of the art management.....currently unavailable in Thailand.I just flew in from Perth and there were lots of empty seats but reasonably quick immigration and the fastest time ever for my baggage......there may be hope!!

[Toknarok]

         These aircraft are actually being leased not purchased. I would image that leasing them would be cheaper then purchasing, in the short term anyway. See Airbus blog......http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/news-media/press-releases/Airbus-Group/Financial_Communication/2016/08/Thai-Airways-International-becomes-new-operator-of-the-A350-XWB.html

[bangon04]

In true THAI style, they are offering these fuel efficient wide body aircraft on the BKK-CNX route first.

They can practise landings and take offs.

Edited August 31, 2016 by bangon04

[pauleddy]

I started avoiding Thai years ago, largely because:

 

1. The "service" thing is a hoax. After the first meal service, 90% of the crew hide or go to sleep. And I always travel Business! Try to get a third glass of wine, and they look at you like dog mess. Even BA is better. Cathay is 500% better. Lufthansa is not my favourite either, but it's efficient. Thai crew are well paid and tend to come from middle-class or higher families, and I find them arrogant beneath the fake smiles. It's not like working for Ryannair, which is a fairly lo-so crew job.

2. The seat prices are about 30% above Emirates and Qatar. I think this is because so many Thais get free seats or discounts. If you are distantly related to a junior cleaner at Swampy, you can wangle something--which means that farangs pay more. All government officials use "networking". TIT.

3. The fleets of Qatar and Emirates are virtually new. On my last Qatar Air flight, the food and service were fantastic in Biz, and the plane was so new that there were parts of the cabin which were still wrapped in polythene from Airbus.

4. On my last 13 hour flight to Europe with Thai, the Boeing was so old that the seats in Biz didn't flatten. They simply reclined about 45degrees. Equals no sleep for me, anyway.

5. The terrible management "thing" doesn't get better. I resent paying 30% more than Qatar prices simply to subsidise inefficiency.

6. It's perfectly apparent that oil prices are rock bottom, and that fewer people are travelling. Airlines need to work hard to attract people to fly.

 

Eddy

 

[Renzo]

2 hours ago, z42 said:

What part of the cost cutting exercise is this then I wonder. As far as I am aware they are still massively in the red and barely profitable even in a time of extremely cheap fuel costs and unprecedented numbers of air travellers. A joke of a purchase given their current circumstances

The cost of running new generation aircraft like this is considerably less than older planes - especially the likes of the mothballed A340s which have four engines and not a lot more seating/freight capacity (which is why no one wants to buy them!). If you look at the budget airlines, they are all buying brand new A320s, A330s and Boeing737s... for that very reason. In the early days, the budget airlines used to lease old planes retired from major airline fleets - they quickly learned leasing new ones was far more economical....  

Thai's problem is its overheads are too high and it is pricing its tickets to try to cover those overheads, which makes it uncompetitive with rivals... Take a look at the price of a return ticket on an ageing Thai plane from Bangkok to Hong Kong return and compare with the price of a seat on a brand new Emirates A380 on the same route... 

 

[dieseldave1951]

5 hours ago, kannot said:

i hope they bought a maintenance package too

what a spare packet of grease nipples 

[dieseldave1951]

4 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

Hardly a joke.  The current fleet is largely ageing and old fashioned.  This makes it difficult for them to attract business.  It's also not fuel efficient keeping fares high.  A modernised fleet could well be a step in the right direction.  If managed correctly (and it's a big "if"), this could be the start of a turnaround for the airline.

thai lion have done it i travelled with them on their budget fares and the planes are full

[AgMech Cowboy]

2 hours ago, Veritas48 said:

All they need now is state of the art management.....currently unavailable in Thailand.I just flew in from Perth and there were lots of empty seats but reasonably quick immigration and the fastest time ever for my baggage......there may be hope!!

Did the plane park to off load at a terminal gate or did you ride a bus to the terminal? Until I hear that Thai Airways is regularly off loading their planes at the Terminal, they are my last choice for International flights.

[baboon]

2 hours ago, pauleddy said:

I started avoiding Thai years ago, largely because:

 

1. The "service" thing is a hoax. After the first meal service, 90% of the crew hide or go to sleep. And I always travel Business! Try to get a third glass of wine, and they look at you like dog mess. Even BA is better. Cathay is 500% better. Lufthansa is not my favourite either, but it's efficient. Thai crew are well paid and tend to come from middle-class or higher families, and I find them arrogant beneath the fake smiles. It's not like working for Ryannair, which is a fairly lo-so crew job.

2. The seat prices are about 30% above Emirates and Qatar. I think this is because so many Thais get free seats or discounts. If you are distantly related to a junior cleaner at Swampy, you can wangle something--which means that farangs pay more. All government officials use "networking". TIT.

3. The fleets of Qatar and Emirates are virtually new. On my last Qatar Air flight, the food and service were fantastic in Biz, and the plane was so new that there were parts of the cabin which were still wrapped in polythene from Airbus.

4. On my last 13 hour flight to Europe with Thai, the Boeing was so old that the seats in Biz didn't flatten. They simply reclined about 45degrees. Equals no sleep for me, anyway.

5. The terrible management "thing" doesn't get better. I resent paying 30% more than Qatar prices simply to subsidise inefficiency.

6. It's perfectly apparent that oil prices are rock bottom, and that fewer people are travelling. Airlines need to work hard to attract people to fly.

 

Eddy

 

Seat prices 30% higher than Mrats and Qatar? I can't speak for Qatar, but every time I check, THAI are usually double the price of Mrats and 2-3 hundred quid more than BA. No thanks...

[Hawk]

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

 The current fleet is largely ageing and old fashioned.  

 

 

Just like the airline's management.

[Winniedapu]

Let's hope they had the foresight to make the tail insiginia easily removable.

 

Just in case.

 

Winnie

[DipStick]

Cathay Pacific have been using the A350 on the relatively short haul Asian routes, I have flown three times on this aircraft and it really is a superb experience.

[Fookhaht]

No, state of the art is the Boeing Dreamliner.   Dolts. 

My motto at ticket time:  "If it's not a Boeing, I'm not Goeing."  

Edited August 31, 2016 by Fookhaht

[sandyf]

9 minutes ago, Fookhaht said:

No, state of the art is the Boeing Dreamliner.   Dolts. 

My motto at ticket time:  "If it's not a Boeing, I'm not Goeing."  

Just make sure you have a spare battery.

[DipStick]

I don't really believe anything can be 100% state of the art, if it could be done then the 787 Deramliner would not have had the number of electrical fires it has suffered from, only yesterday an ANA787 had to make an emergency landing after one of the cockpit windows cracked at low altitude. Or the one from the sme airline that had return to Tokyo  yesterday with severe engine vibrations.

by the way I am a very frequent flyer and certainly not into Boeing vAirbus wars

[Fookhaht]

8 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Just make sure you have a spare battery.

No worries.  Always take extras in my carry-on. 

[Fookhaht]

17 minutes ago, DipStick said:

. . . by the way I am a very frequent flyer and certainly not into Boeing vAirbus wars

A Bombardier fan, eh?    Just love the little bombing runs we do between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. every time I go home for the holidays.  Now THERE'S state of the fart!

Edited August 31, 2016 by Fookhaht

[MobileContent]

Checked for a one way flight yesterday to Frankfurt and Emirates was 16000 Baht and THAI was 110,000 Baht. Return flight to Frankfurt was around 70,000 Baht and Qatar was around 29,000 Baht.

[new2here]

The cost of running new generation aircraft like this is considerably less than older planes - especially the likes of the mothballed A340s which have four engines and not a lot more seating/freight capacity (which is why no one wants to buy them!). If you look at the budget airlines, they are all buying brand new A320s, A330s and Boeing737s... for that very reason. In the early days, the budget airlines used to lease old planes retired from major airline fleets - they quickly learned leasing new ones was far more economical....  

Thai's problem is its overheads are too high and it is pricing its tickets to try to cover those overheads, which makes it uncompetitive with rivals... Take a look at the price of a return ticket on an ageing Thai plane from Bangkok to Hong Kong return and compare with the price of a seat on a brand new Emirates A380 on the same route... 

 

I agree with this... I think that the issue is far more on the cost side than it is on the revenue side.. Plus, for an airline, the cost side is far more controllable than the Revenue side ..

So, it's makes good middle-terms sense to bring into the fleet new or newer aircraft that operate with lower CASMs than older less efficient aircraft- even if that means additional capital expenditures in an otherwise "cost-cutting" environment.

I think that Thai would get several benefits from this aside from the lower CASM; operational reliability I suspect will improve as will driving down maintenance costs


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[new2here]

In true THAI style, they are offering these fuel efficient wide body aircraft on the BKK-CNX route first.

They can practise landings and take offs.

Many airlines first "trial" new fleet types on short-haul sectors - especially between hubs or focus cities where above and below wing support are readily available.

This also allow the airline to get more crews certified in the new aircraft type in a shorter time period.. Thai can (and probably will) board two crews. One boards in uniform and works the BKKCNX sector while the second crew deadheads to CNX. On CNX, they switch and the second crew then goes on-duty for the return.

Do this 2 or 3 times a day and you can get a fair number certified in just a few days

You also gain some below-wing practice time as well.

So, running it BKKCNXBKK makes a lot of operational sense.




Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Prbkk]

Both the daily Melbourne flights will go to A350. The Australia Thai manager is quoted as saying they have secured gates closer to immigration at BKK: as anyone who takes these flights knows, more often than not they have been bus in on arrival and departure ( as in about 80%).

i hope this works for them. The competition is tough: not being too constrained by dates, I take whatever is cheapest  and have a few overlapping tickets on the go at the same time. Thai hasn't figured much in recent times: just too expensive relative to the (better) competition.