THAI's liquidity improving, no need for loan: chairman
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THAI AIRWAYS International no longer needs to borrow more as planned after its liquidity returned to normal on tighter expense management.
Areepong Bhoocha-oom, chairman of the national carrier, said yesterday that the airline’s liquidity was now sufficient for administration, so more loans were not required.
Expense-saving measures, flight frequency cuts and postponed delivery of two aircraft to the middle of next year contributed to THAI’s liquidity improvement, he said.
THAI had been expected to |face a cash crunch this month. Now, with liquidity-improvement measures, it can use cash on hand and credit lines to run its operations until March.
The plan to tap the Government Savings Bank was just an idea in case it needed to find more capital, he said. Revenue is also expected to rise during the high season.
However, the delayed delivery of the two aircraft will be a burden next year, he said.
The plans for cutting costs and increasing revenue still follow the company’s targets.
The board asked for a review of procedures, focusing on more systematic expense reduction. The premium airline needed to improve its strategy and operations to deal with fiercer competition and low-cost carriers.
THAI’s sales have not yet returned to normal, but its three-month advance ticket bookings have improved to 78 per cent.
In the past six months, the number of tourists has declined. However, pre-booked ticketing has recovered after the political situation stabilised.
THAI expects Thailand to see |an improvement in tourism in |the last three months of this |year, which could help it turn profitable in that quarter, Areepong said.
