Nok Air

Thai Airways forward bookings and short-term outlook plummet due to Bangkok floods

Thai Airways International is facing a challenging November and December as tourists reconsider travelling to Bangkok in the aftermath of the recent floods. The flag carrier, which had been banking on a profitable 4Q2011 to offset year-to-date losses, now faces the prospect of a full-year loss for 2011.

Thai Airways president, Piyasvasti Amranand, says international forward bookings are down significantly, with Asian routes the most impacted. Domestically, Thailand’s carriers have been recording high load factors since the floods began late last month. Most Thai carriers have been operating additional flights over the last two weeks in response to a surge in demand as roads connecting Bangkok with northern Thailand have closed, making bus travel to major domestic destinations such as Chang Mai impossible.

Thailand’s Nok Air to stick with domestic focus following ownership restructure and fleet renewal

Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air is entering a new phase in its development as it plans major capacity growth and pursues a closer relationship with part-owner Thai Airways. But at least for now Nok will remain focused entirely on the domestic market despite the potential opportunity to fill the void in Thai’s group strategy left by previously planned international LCC Thai Tiger.

Nok is one of the oldest LCCs in Asia, having just celebrated its seventh birthday, but is perhaps the least known as its brand, while very strong locally, has virtually no international exposure. The carrier’s profitability and success at carving out a niche by focusing on the local Thai market, and particularly the country’s younger generation, has gone largely noticed in the global industry. Nok has quietly grown to become a major player in Thailand, accounting for a 20% share of Thailand’s fast-growing domestic market according to capacity data from Innovata.

Thai Airways to use Thai Smile to fight back at AirAsia and rapid LCC growth in Thailand

Thai Airways’ new regional unit, Thai Smile, will initially compete primarily against Thai AirAsia on domestic routes when it launches services at the middle of next year. While Thai Smile will offer some frills and connect with Thai Airways and other Star Alliance carriers, the unit’s lower cost base is designed to compete more effectively against Thai’s largest local rival.

The Thai Airways board late last month approved the brand name Thai Smile, replacing Thai Wing, which has been the provisional name since the board initially approved in May-2011 the creation of a new regional airline unit. Thai Smile is now aiming to launch domestic services in Jul-2012 from a base at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, following a hybrid model that is part LCC and part full-service regional carrier.

Thai Airways falls back into the red and faces challenging future

Thai Airways has reported its first quarterly loss in two years as the flag carrier struggles in the face of rising oil prices, intensifying competition and the economic downturn. Thai has particularly been impacted by Europe's challenging economy and Japan’s Mar-2011 earthquake. But it is also having problems closer to home in fighting off growing low-cost competition, which Thai is hoping to counter by launching two new airlines.

Thai to use both B787s and A350s on regional Asia routes; Thai Wing to operate A320s

Thai Airways International has decided to add three aircraft types to the group as part of its plan to acquire 37 additional aircraft over the next six years. Thai has opted to acquire both B787s and A350s for its new-generation medium-size widebody requirement and has selected the A320 over the B737 for its new narrowbody requirement.