THAI slashing up to 58 per cent of flights until October
Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) plans a drastic reduction of its flights from January-October 2020 due to the decreasing number of passengers because of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, a source revealed.
The plan aimed to cancel up to 22,948 flights or an average 39.2 per cent of the total 58,513 flights that were previously scheduled.
According to the source, in January 28 flights, or 0.4 per cent, of total flights per month were cancelled while in February 454 flights (7.5 per cent) were cancelled. In March 2,115 flights (33.3 per cent) will be cancelled.
The company is planning to cancel 3,318 flights (55.2 per cent) in April, 3,179 flights (54.7 per cent) in May, 2,840 flights (51.6 per cent) in June, 2,609 flights (46.3 per cent) in July, 2,601 flights (46.1 per cent in August, 2,505 flights (46.4 per cent) in September and 3,299 flights (58.6 per cent) in October.
THAI and its subsidiary THAI Smile Airways will be temporarily closing their selected stations worldwide to reduce operational cost. One domestic station in Phuket will be closed starting March 29 while 25 international stations will be gradually closing until October 2020. Among those that will closed are Milan, Rome, Vienna, Sendai, Fukuoka, Busan, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier on Monday (March 23), THAI Smile suspended all international flights until further notice, while offering full refund to customers. Those who wish to change their travel itinerary and/or reroute can do so without paying any fee, though terms and conditions apply.