Thai Airways International expects to take delivery of four new aircraft this year, including its first Airbus A321neo, as it looks to tap into “ever-growing demand for travel” in the near term.
In fleet plans disclosed alongside full-year financial results, the Star Alliance operator says it will also be adding a pair of Boeing 787-9s and an A330-300 to its fleet during the year.
This is on top of ongoing efforts to retrofit its fleet of A320s – inherited from its merger with regional wing Thai Smile – with business-class seats.
The first A321neo that will be delivered this year appears to be from an earlier deal. In June 2023, airline chief Chai Eamsiri told FlightGlobal the airline secured leases for five A321neos, with the first to be delivered in 2025.
Thai would later sign a separate lease deal with lessor SMBC Aviation Capital for another eight of the twinjet type, to be delivered from 2026.
The Bangkok-based operator also confirms plans to revamp its cabin products on its 777-300ERs, which Eamsiri first disclosed to Airline Business in late-2024. The “customer-centric” upgrade will see its older 777s retrofitted with three cabin classes: business, premium economy and economy.
The fleet update comes as Thai saw its quarterly operating profit hit a post-pandemic high.
The airline, which is in the final stages of business rehabilitation, reported an operating profit of Bt17.3 billion ($512 million) for the three months ended 31 December 2024, up 21% year on year. This was on the back of a 21% increase in quarterly passenger revenue to Bt43.2 billion. Thai carried 4.5 million passengers during the October-December quarter - a record high in post-pandemic operations.
However, Thai swung to a steep net loss – to the tune of about Bt42.1 billion – as it incurred losses on debt restructuring and debt-to-equity conversion as part of business rehabilitation.
For the full-year, Thai reported an operating profit of Bt41.5 billion, up 3% year on year, with revenue up 16.7% to nearly Bt188 billion.
