Thai Airways International's board today will consider the short-term dry lease of three to six Airbus A300-350 aircraft to serve European routes, a move which could raise the airline's earnings by Bt1 billion per annum in the next three years.
Chokchai Panyayong, executive vice president for strategy and business development, yesterday said the THAI board had approved the leasing in principle in February and now the airline now urgently needed the new aircraft, given that some of its existing fleet cannot be operated.
"We service the [European] routes with a Boeing B747, which needs constant maintenance, while three A330-300 cannot currently be used due to substandard seating. Our schedules are disrupted. If the board approves the urgent lease, the contract could be signed this month for delivery in May," he said.
These newly acquired aircraft will be serve the following intercontinental routes: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Los Angeles, and Oslo. On regional routes, aircraft will be utilized to: Perth, Dubai, Shanghai, Taipei, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), and Bengaluru (Bangalore).
The aircraft would be leased from carriers such as Singapore Airlines at a cost of US$1.2 million (Bt39 million) per month each.
THAI expects the new aircraft to increase earnings. It earlier forecast a net profit of Bt4.3 billion for this year, Bt6 billion in 2001 and Bt8 billion in 2002.
Chokchai stressed that all airlines were focused on new products and better services. Aviation liberalisation in Asean and other areas in 2015 will also intensify regional competition, and THAI needs appropriate strategies on product development as well as fleet competitiveness.
THAI's route network strategy aims to continue developing Bangkok as the main hub by enhancing its schedule for more connectivity. The company will also increase production on profitable routes that are part of its regional and European network. Cooperation on alliance and strategic partnerships will be leveraged in order to expand the company's network. Secondary domestic and regional routes will be expanded through Nok Air, its low-fare budget carrier, following THAI's two-brand strategy.
The company's fleet strategy aims to improve fleet efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by controlling the proper number of aircraft in the fleet and production that matches market demand, while working on fleet simplification in the long-term.
THAI's fleet development plan for the next 10-15 years will cover the period of 2010-2024, in 3 phases:
During 2010-2014, the Company plans to phase-out 25 aging aircraft, take delivery of 9 Government-approved aircraft, and acquire 15 aircraft.
During 2015-2019, the Company plans to phase-out 32 aging aircraft and acquire new aircraft to replace those that have been phased-out, for future network growth at no less than 38 aircraft.
During 2020-2024, the Company plans to phase-out 20 aging aircraft and acquire new aircraft to replace those that have been phased-out, for future network growth at no less than 28 aircraft.
Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association expects its members to show combined losses of only US$2.8 billion this year, from an earlier projection of $5.6 billion.
Improvements are driven by economic recovery in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific and Latin America, whose carriers posted international-passenger demand gains of 6.5 per cent and 11 per cent respectively in January.
