THAI to undergo sales restructuring
Thai Airways International plans to revamp its sales set-up this year, as well as seeking Bt25 billion for debt repayment and use as cash flow.
“The company will employ experts, perhaps outsiders, to help boost sales. We predict the average [passenger] load factor will increase from 70 per cent last year to 80 per cent this year [as a result], a similar level to many other airlines,” THAI president Charamporn Jotikasthira said yesterday.
The national flag carrier aims to complete the sales-restructuring plan within six to eight months, he said.
The average load factor for THAI’s passenger services in some key markets such as China has grown by 20 per cent compared with the same period last year, but the load factor in Europe remains in the red, he |added.
Sales restructuring is part of the airline’s master plan for financial and business reform, which aims to return THAI to profit this year, after experiencing losses for four consecutive years.
Under the overall plan, the airline has drafted 17 sub-plans in key areas such as maintenance, marketing and aircraft sales. The company has internally transferred executives, including Charamporn, to lead these units, with each team running its own operations and being given the flexibility to complete its goals within different time scales.
On the financial front, Charamporn said THAI’s board had approved a plan to seek loans totalling Bt25 billion to repay debt, and also for use as cash flow for other expenses this year and next.
Initial borrowing of Bt15 billion would be used this year, with a further Bt10 billion scheduled for use in 2016.
A further Bt10 billion will be spent on eight new aircraft scheduled to arrive this year.
The airline also plans to sell 22 old aircraft by the end of July, and a further 20 by year-end, said the company president.
During this year’s Songkran Festival, the airline plans to increase overall capacity by 4,000-8,000 seats on its Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi routes.
The load factor on its Bangkok-Chiang Mai route has plunged this week because of heavy smog in the northern province, but is expected to return to normal next month, he said.
