Headquarters
'Thai Airways International Public Company Limited' () (
SET:
THAI) is the national air carrier of
Thailand, operating out of
Suvarnabhumi Airport, and is a founding member of the
Star Alliance network. Like
Singapore Airlines, Thai offers some of the longest
non-stop commercial flights from
Bangkok to
New York and
Los Angeles.
Skytrax awarded Thai Airways International 'Worlds Best Cabin Staff' in 2006, while placing second in the 'Airline of the Year' category in 2007, second to only
Singapore Airlines.
[2]
History
Thai started as Thai Airways International, a joint venture with
Scandinavian Airlines System (which initially held a 30% share), along with a domestic carrier,
Thai Airways Company (
Thai: เดินอากาศไทย). The carrier's first flight was on
May 1,
1960.
On
April 1 1977, the Thai government bought out the remaining 15% of SAS-owned shares.
On
April 1 1988, the two carriers merged to form the present Thai Airways International.
[3]
In August 2005, Thai Airways International president Kanok Abhiradee was suspended from his managerial duties just before the airline reported a massive loss for its fiscal third quarter to June 30. Following the suspension, the airline appointed board member Somchainuk Engtrakul to oversee Kanok's major responsibilities. The airline has named a new president in April 2006.
[4]
The arrival of the
A340-500 coincided with a change to the airline's image, including a new livery and a revised font for the title "Thai".
On
May 1 2005, the airline began a non-stop Bangkok-New York service (TG790/791) with a new
A340-500. The New York bound flight time is 16 hours 55 minutes and Bangkok bound flight time is 17 hours 10 minutes. It flies over the
North Pole, and departs at midnight (Bangkok time 0040 at summer).
Non-stop Bangkok-Los Angeles service (TG794/795) started on
December 2 2005, also using a new
A340-500. The flight time is 16.5 hours eastbound. This replaces TG774/775 (LAX-KIX-BKK & BKK-KIX-LAX) service using
Boeing 747-400 aircraft and the stop at
Kansai International Airport in
Osaka.
In February 2006, the airline announced it was studying the startup of a new airline, to be called Thai Orchid (
Thai: เอื้องหลวง), which would market itself as a luxury alternative to the low-cost carriers, such as subsidiary
Nok Air (
Thai: นกแอร์).
[5]
Thai Airways International operates three weekly direct flights on the route
Bangkok –
Johannesburg v.v., utilizing
A340-600 aircraft from October 2006.
Destinations
Main articles: Thai Airways International destinations
Thai Airways aircraft at Don Mueang International Airport
On
September 28,
2006 at 1:45am, flight TG 662 to
Shanghai was the last Thai Airways departure from Don Mueang. At 4:45am, TG 613 from
Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi, India was Thai Airways' first official arrival at Suvarnabhumi.
[6]
Cargo
Thai Airways
Cargo operate
747-200F freighter aircraft service, thrice weekly Bangkok-Dubai-Paris in cooperation with
Focus Air Cargo.
Travel Classes
Thai has four travel classes: Economy, Premium Economy, Royal Silk and Royal First.
Economy Class
Economy Class is the lowest priced class on Thai. Seat pitch on Thai Economy offers passengers up to 36" pitch in selected aircraft with an average of 34" on all aircraft. All Economy seats in Airbus A340-500, Airbus A340-600 and Boeing B777-200ER have individual Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) In-flight Entertainment (IFE) system. Passengers will be given a choice of Thai or Western meals. Alcoholic beverages are free and served to passengers over the age of 18.
Premium Economy Class
Thai Airways meal
The new Premium Economy Class is only available on inter-continental flights between Bangkok(BKK) and Los Angeles(LAX) or New York(JFK) on Airbus A340-500 aircraft. The fare for Premium Economy Class is slightly higher than Economy but lower than Royal Silk (Business) Class. Premium Economy seating is configured as 2-3-2 rather than the standard 2-4-2 in Economy. Seat pitch is increased to 42", 135 degree angle of recline and the seat features a leg-rest. Premium Economy class passengers also have more choices over their meal selection.
On some long-haul routes such as Bangkok -
Copenhagen, Bangkok -
Stockholm, aircraft with previous generation Business Class seats are used - therefore the seats are sold under Premium Economy Class fare.
Royal Silk (Business) Class
With higher fares, Royal Silk Class passengers enjoy a number of priorities and luxury not available to Economy Class passengers. This includes dedicated premium check-in facility at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, dedicated check-in desks at major airports around the world, lounge access, priority boarding, pre-flight champagne, fast track lane for passport control & security-check and priority baggage handling.
The new shell, angled lie-flat business class seats are installed on 12 Boeing 747-400 aircraft, all
Boeing 777-200 aircraft and all
Airbus A340 aircraft. The pitch is 60" between seats and width is 20". When fully reclined (electrically adjusted) the seat becomes completely flat, however it is angled. The seat can perform lumbar massage. All seats are equipped with
AVOD IFE.
There are more choices of main course meal selection in Royal Silk class on international flights, although some may be identical to Economy Class offering. Premium alcoholic drinks are served with a more extensive choices of wine. Port and cheese is served after lunch and dinner.
Royal First Class
The new Royal First Class was introduced with the arrival of the Airbus A340-600.
It offers 8 solo flat-beds. Furthermore, THAI's retrofited 12 B747-400s were also equipped with this B/E Aerospace seat which mostly served Europe-Australia and some intra-Asian flights.
Royal Orchid Plus
Thai Airways International's Royal Orchid Plus is the first frequent flyer program established in Thailand . It has a membership of over two million members world-wide. Individuals above the age of two can join the program.
'Earning Miles'
There are two types of mile which can be earned towards a Royal Orchid Plus account.
1. ''Eligible Qualifying Mile''s (EQM) this type of mile is earned on flown:
★ Thai Airways flights
★ TG codeshare flights on routes departing from/to Bangkok (Malaysian Airlines, Emirates Airlines, El Al Israel Airlines and China Eastern Airlines)
★ Star Alliance flights
★ Jet Airways flights
''Qualifying Mile''s (Q Miles) are the actual miles flown and additional class of service miles on Thai and Star Alliance airlines.
Royal Orchid Plus miles are earned based on the paid class of travel and subject to eligible booking class codes of the airline flown.
2. ''Partner Mile''s are earned from various non-airline partners, such as hotels.
'Status Tiers'
There are three tiers in the Royal Orchid Plus program
★ Member - entry-level status
★ Silver - requires 10,000 Q Miles in one calendar year or 15,000 Q Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the next complete calendar year
★ Gold - requires 50,000 Q Miles in one calendar year, 80,000 Q Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the next complete calendar year, or 40 international flown sectors on THAI within any 1 calendar year.
Fleet
Main articles: Thai Airways International fleet
The Thai Airways International fleet consists of the following aircraft as of June 2007
[7]:
★ Premium Economy is only available on non-stop flights from Bangkok to Los Angeles and New York.
The average age of the Thai fleet was 10.2 years at December 2006.
Thai has ordered 6
Airbus A380 aircraft, which will be delivered in 2010 for use on services to Frankfurt, Paris and London where frequencies cannot yet be increased.
Thai have confirmed an order (placed in 2004) for 6
Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to be delivered from 2006 to October 2007.
Twenty-one
A300-600 aircraft will leave the fleet sometime from 2006-2007. This will most likely coincide with the delivery of the new
777-200ER aircraft.
Six
Airbus A300-600 and
Boeing 747-300 will leave the fleet within 2007, Thai has now confirmed to buy 8 A330-300 as a replacement for delivery between 2008 and 2010.
Thai is currently choosing between purchasing 6 or more
Airbus A350 or
Boeing 787 and making decision to purchase more 50 planes in the next 10 years plan.
Codeshare agreements
Thai Airways crew
Check-in desks at Bangkok
Thai Airways International
codeshares with the following airlines on the following routes:
★
Swiss International Airlines -codeshare on service between
Bangkok and
Zurich, Switzerland. Service is operated by either Thai or Swiss.
★
Emirates -codeshare on service from Bangkok to
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Thai operates the service and Emirates codeshares it.
★
Malaysia Airlines -codeshare on service between
Thailand and
Malaysia. Thai takes some of the service, Malaysian the rest.
★
El Al -codeshare on service to
Tel Aviv, Israel. All flights are operated by El Al and codeshared by Thai.
★
Japan Airlines (JAL) -codeshare on service to several destinations in Japan, including Osaka and Nagoya. Flights are operated by JAL or Thai Airways.
★
Jet Airways -codeshare operated by Jet Airways codesharing with Thai to Indian destinations.
★
Royal Jordanian -codeshare operated by Royal Jordanian codesharing with Thai to Amman, Jordan.
★
Air Madagascar -codeshare operated by Air Madagascar codesharing with Thai to Antananarivo.
★
Qatar Airways -codeshare operated by Qatar Airways codesharing with Thai to Doha, Qatar.
★
Gulf Air -codeshare operated by Gulf Air codesharing with Thai to Bahrain.
★
Egyptair -codeshare operated by Egypt Air codesharing with Thai to Cairo, Egypt.
★
Pakistan International Airlines -codeshare on services to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad in Pakistan
Flight numbers
★ TG 0XX : Northeastern
Thailand
★ TG 1XX : Northern
Thailand
★ TG 2XX : Southern
Thailand
★ TG 3XX :
South Asia and
Myanmar
★ TG 4XX :
Southeast Asia ex.
Myanmar and
Indochina and
Philippines
★ TG 5XX :
Middle East and
Pakistan
★ TG 60X - TG 67X :
East Asia and
Philippines
★ TG 68X - TG 69X :
Indochina
★ TG 7XX :
America and
Africa
★ TG 8XX : Special Flight
★ TG 90X - TG 97X :
Europe
★ TG 98X - TG 99X :
Australia and
New Zealand
★ TG 1xxx : Domestic flight from/to Bangkok's
Don Muang Airport
Incidents and accidents
★
April 27 1980 – a Thai Airways
Avro 748 enroute from
Khon Kaen to
Bangkok lost altitude during a thunderstorm and crashed about 8 miles from
Don Mueang International Airport. All four crew members and 40 of the 49 passengers were killed.
[9]
★
April 15 1985 – a Thai Airways
Boeing 737-200 hit high ground on
Phuket and was destroyed by the impact and fire. All four passengers and seven crew members were killed. The accident occurred after a failure of both engines.
[10]
★
August 31 1987 –
Thai Airways Flight 365, a Boeing 737-200 flying from
Hat Yai to
Phuket crashed into the sea off Phuket. All nine crew members and 74 passengers were killed
[11]]
★
July 31 1992 –
Thai Airways International Flight 311, an
Airbus A310-304 hit the side of a hill 23 miles north of Kathmandu while descending towards
Tribhuvan International Airport from Bangkok. All 113 on board (99 passengers and 14 crew) died. The accident was caused by technical faults (with flaps and a possible second unknown fault), pilot error and lack of equipment at TIA at the time (no radar).
[1],
[2]
★
December 11 1998 –
Thai Airways Flight 261, another
A310-200, bound for
Surat Thani from Bangkok, during its third landing attempt in heavy rain, crashed into a
rice paddy about 2 miles from Surat Thani airport; 102 of 143 aboard were killed.
[12]
★
March 3 2001 – a Thai Airways International
Boeing 737-400, bound for
Chiang Mai from Bangkok, was destroyed by an explosion and fire that occurred about 35 minutes before the Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and about 150 other passengers were to board. Five members of the cabin crew were aboard, and one was killed. Witnesses said they heard an explosion before flames erupted aboard the aircraft.
NTSB investigators reported that the center fuel tank exploded followed by the right tank 18 minutes later. The cause for the explosion was unclear. No traces of explosive were found. The center fuel tank is located near air conditioning packs which generate heat, and were running nonstop prior to the explosion.
[13]
★
September 1,
2007 - An
Airbus A380 owned operated by Airbus was lightly damaged during an accident at
Suvarnabhumi Airport when a Thai Airways International tug operator accidently scraped a hangar during pushback. The flight had been intended to demonstrate the A380's compatability with airports despite it's large size. The plane continued four hours late after emergency modifications by Airbus.
[14]
See also
★
Nok Air (a low-cost carrier of Thai Airways International)
★
Thai Airways (merged into Thai Airways International in 1988)
External links
★
Thai Airways International
★
Thai Airways International Newsroom
★
Royal Orchid Plus
★
Star Alliance
References
1. Major Shareholders
2. AIRLINES wins Airline of the Year title in the 2007 World Airline Awards which were unveiled today by Skytrax
3. Thai Airways International Public Information
4. Thai Airways International Announcement 18 April 2006
5. Forbes.com 02 September 2006
6. Airliners Net 27 September 2006
7. Thai Airways International Website June 2007
8. Thai Airways
9. Plane Crash Info 11 June 1980
10. Plane Crash Info 15 April 1985]
11. Plane Crash Info 31 August 1987]
12. Asia Economic News 14 December 1998
13. BBC News 04 March 2001
14. "Accident delays Airbus A380 test flight to Chiang Mai". Monsters and Critics.com, September 1, 2007
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