THAI denies rumour of plans to buy 30 planes in 2025
Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) has no plan to buy 30 planes within 2025, acting president Chansin Treenuchagron said on Tuesday, adding that if flight demand increases the company would look into a rental option first.
A news source had said last week that THAI is planning to buy 20 to 30 planes in 2025 to strengthen its fleet and replace sold/decommissioned planes, adding that the company expected the airline industry to recover from the fallout of Covid-19 by then.
“There is a rumour that THAI would submit a plan to buy new planes along with the company’s business rehabilitation plan to the Central Bankruptcy Court on March 2, but this is not true,” said Chansin.
“Before entering the rehabilitation process, THAI already had a plan to decommission old planes that required high maintenance cost and had low fuel efficiency,” he added.
“In the next five years, the company aims to downsize its air fleet as well as reduce maintenance cost to only necessary level, as well as find new revenue sources and increase administration efficiency in accordance with the current market demand.
“If the demand for air travel increases due to recovering global economy, the company’s strategic committee would carefully estimate market trends both in mid- and long-term, and procure additional planes based on cost-effectiveness to make sure that the company does not lose its competitive advantage in the industry,” added Chansin.