Thailand

Thai Airways expects full post-floods recovery in January

Thai Airways International is confident of a full recovery within the next few weeks from the Bangkok floods, which caused a big drop in traffic in November and a smaller drop so far this month.

Thai Airways reported a load factor of only 61% for Nov-2011, down 11 ppts from the 72% load factor recorded in Nov-2010. Speaking to CAPA at last week’s Star Alliance event in Ethiopia, Thai Airways president Piyasvasti Amranand called the 61% figure “terrible” but says December will be “a lot better than November” although the carrier will still not be able to meet its pre-floods projection of a 75% load factor for Dec-2011. Mr Piyassvasti expects the carrier to end this month with a load factor of nearly 70%, marking a significant improvement over November but not a full recovery. “January looks better,” he adds.

Thai Tiger officially and finally dropped, pressuring Tiger to look elsewhere for growth

Thai Tiger, the proposed joint-venture between Thai Airways and the Singapore-based Tiger Airways that has been languishing for months, is finally being recognised by Tiger as over. This acknowledgement continues the pressure on Tiger Airways to find bases for aircraft it planned to deploy with Thai Tiger as well as a number of other projects that have languished as well. The impact of these non-starts is evident at Tiger Airways Singapore, which last month announced a large loss for the quarter ending 30-Sep-2011 as it failed to absorb the large capacity Tiger put in after having nowhere else to deploy it to.

Frankfurt first destination for Thai Airways A380, which may provide excess capacity

Frankfurt has been selected as the first destination for Thai Airways' Airbus A380, Thai President Piyasvasti Amranand tells CAPA. Thai will take delivery of its first A380 in Sep-2012 and then place the aircraft into service that month on the Bangkok-Frankfurt route. In 2013, as additional A380s are delivered, Thai will expand its A380 network to London Heathrow and Sydney.

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.

Where the Airbus A380 will fly next

Next month marks the fourth anniversary of the Airbus A380's entry into service. Since the maiden commercial flight by Singapore Airlines, A380s have carried more than 20 million passengers on flights with SIA and five other operators: Emirates, Qantas, Lufthansa, Air France and Korean Air. 56 A380s are now in service, with approximately ten more to be delivered by the end of the year. A380 operations are clustered around a handful of key international points. A380s currently serve 25 airports on 38 separate routes. Seven airports account for more than half of all A380 routes.