News Forum - Strapped for cash, Thai Airways puts 3 more aircraft up for sale

[Thaiger]

The beleaguered national carrier, Thai Airways International, is to sell 3 more aircraft in a bid to raise some much-needed funds. Also up for grabs is a flight simulator, as the airline continues with its rehabilitation plan and attempts to modernise its fleet. The Bangkok Post reports that the airline is selling 3 of its Airbus A330-300s, all of which are over 12 years old, and the corresponding flight simulator. The Covid-19 crisis and decline in global travel means there is currently limited demand for the wide-bodied A330-300s, of which Thai Airways has 15 in its fleet. The airline has […]

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[AlexPTY]

i thought they were bailed out by government already. looks like it was smart way to spend cash during pandemic

[Thommo]

If only I had waited, looks like i brought msflt sim 2020 too early 

[AussieBob]

Those A330-300s bought when Thaksin was PM, are world renown for an extremely high usage of fuel - they are not cost effective at all (and will destroy the planet!!). Those planes were also renown for costing a lot more than the ticketed prices - and I dont think that extra money went into better seats and wheels/tyres. 

[Malc-Thai]

"selling 3 of its Airbus A330-300s, all of which are over 12 years old, and the corresponding flight simulator. The Covid-19 crisis and decline in global travel means there is currently limited demand for the wide-bodied A330-300s,"

And Who will buy 3 × 12 year old planes with no demand 

[BraveNewFahrenheit]

2 hours ago, Thaiger said:

 The Covid-19 crisis and decline in global travel

I really wish the media would stop saying this. Covid did not destroy economies, the authoritarians in charge of gov'ts did this to us.

[Bob]

Wonder if I will get my  flight refund back when they sell the aeroplanes 

[Bob20]

Can't they take the wings off and weld the windows shut to use them as submarines? Maybe sell them to China and Australia seems to want some too

[Malc-Thai]

17 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Can't they take the wings off and weld the windows shut to use them as submarines? Maybe sell them to China and Australia seems to want some too

Maybe use for their space race!

Next idea from the government 'submarine in space' 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Malc-Thai

[Bob20]

Just now, Malc-Thai said:

Maybe use for their space race!

Next idea from the government submarine in space

Seems reasonable compared to some or their other plans

[KT50]

If the architects of the current travel restrictions in Thailand want a national airline, they will reduce the restrictions and start allowing Thai Airlines to operate flights to and from other parts of the world.  I would have loved to fly Thai Airways into my Phuket Sandbox vacation 8 days ago, but that was not an option.  Therefore, Singapore Airlines was happy to take my money to fly LAX-SIN-HKT, and then reverse back to Los Angeles USA.   Or, turn the A330 into freighters.  Every other airline in the world almost has had major up-tic in revenue via cargo/freight.  Airplanes, tourism, whatever, those hurt the most seem to have the least say in their fate. 

[KaptainRob]

4 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Those A330-300s bought when Thaksin was PM, are world renown for an extremely high usage of fuel - they are not cost effective at all (and will destroy the planet!!). Those planes were also renown for costing a lot more than the ticketed prices - and I dont think that extra money went into better seats and wheels/tyres. 

I think you're referring to the A340's there Bob.

 

18 minutes ago, KT50 said:

Or, turn the A330 into freighters.  Every other airline in the world almost has had major up-tic in revenue via cargo/freight.  Airplanes, tourism, whatever, those hurt the most seem to have the least say in their fate. 

Good idea but a very expensive conversion to an already aged airframe.

[Griff1315]

Cannot trust the corrupt people who run this airline with the price of a ticket let alone the price of an airliner. 

[Bob20]

21 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

Cannot trust the corrupt people who run this airline with the price of a ticket let alone the price of an airliner. 

Previously owned by an old lady though... What can go wrong?

[Griff1315]

2 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Previously owned by an old lady though... What can go wrong?

Probably still on a lease deal from Airbus that they haven't paid...

[Cathat]

Even at the best of times not many potential buyers for what they have for sale.

The 747's are pretty high time/cycle air frames.

Not worth the cost of converting to freighters.

The a340 fleet is simply a bad aircraft and nobody wants them.you can not make any money with them.

The entire thai fleet that they own and have up for sale is probably best broken for parts.

Anything modern/decent/worth having is leased and not owned by tg.

 

[BraveNewFahrenheit]

It was the A345's that were the real gas hogs and I am pretty sure TG never found a buyer for them, I think they are all parked at DMK rotting away. Since it looks like the A380 us dead now I wonder if Thai will keep any of them. I can't see much international travel coming back for several years, or ever if the globalists make it illegal under some climate mandates.

[AussieBob]

13 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

I think you're referring to the A340's there Bob.

Good idea but a very expensive conversion to an already aged airframe.

Got me Rob - yes I meant the A340s - what a flying dog they are.  Some say that there was a lot of 'incentives' provided by Airbus to anyone that bought them - and Thailand bought a lot. 

I sincerely hope that one day there is a free and democratic Government in Thailand, of the People and for the People. One of the many tasks they will undertake is investigations of all previous 'deals' where corruption is suspected. The seizing of all family and business assets of the corrupt, both in Thailand and Overseas, will provide thousands of billions of $US towards the Government funding of desperately needed infrastructure and services rebuilding. What I cannot accept about Thailand is that they have made no attempt to punish the Red Bull Family, when it is clear that they assisted him to escape overseas, and are obviously still assisting him. Only when some of the wealthy corrupt are caught and punished can Thailand move forward. Right now they are basically 'immune' - what was done when Thai Airways bought A340s when no one else wanted them, and what happened with the Red Bull fiasco, hang heavy over the freedoms and rights of the People of Thailand. 

Gee - I went on a bit there didnt I 

[Cathat]

10 hours ago, BraveNewFahrenheit said:

It was the A345's that were the real gas hogs and I am pretty sure TG never found a buyer for them, I think they are all parked at DMK rotting away. Since it looks like the A380 us dead now I wonder if Thai will keep any of them. I can't see much international travel coming back for several years, or ever if the globalists make it illegal under some climate mandates.

They most certainly are.

one senior aviation executive described them as a flying tank of fuel with a few people inside it.

am amazed they got built and speechless that anybody bought them.

You can not even cover the cost of fuel if you fly the thing's.madness even by tg standards.

I had the dubious privelage of using the short lived singapore/eastern seaboard usa non stop service a few times on a 340.i would not recommend it to anybody.

 

[JamesE]

The one thing I don't understand about this is why THAI buys aircraft to begin with. Particularly since the whole "cash strapped" thing has been going on for a while. It seems to me that maybe leasing would have made more sense over the past decade or so. But maybe leases don't come with as big a stack of brown envelopes?

[HiuMak]

I love Thai airways. One of the best second tier airlines which you don't pay crazy prices for. Food is good and service is impeccable. I hope it stays afloat. Looking forward to fly with Thai again some day.

[AussieBob]

21 minutes ago, JamesE said:

The one thing I don't understand about this is why THAI buys aircraft to begin with. Particularly since the whole "cash strapped" thing has been going on for a while. It seems to me that maybe leasing would have made more sense over the past decade or so. But maybe leases don't come with as big a stack of brown envelopes?

There is a lot of 'why' things about companies in Thailand that can only be answered by saying that they do not operate under the same legal and fiduciary rules and regulations that western companies do. It is an accepted and common practice all across Asia that payments and gifts are made to 'senior people' to do business. Some have become less 'corrupt' in the global economy, while others (Thailand) have become more corrupt.  It has been that way in Asia for a long long time. 

Story:  Years ago the number one selling scotch in Japan was Johnny Walker Black Label. Some idiotic progressive new Marketing Manager, fresh out of Harvard or whatever, arrived and did the numbers and decided to lower the price by x% because that would increase sales by Y% and therefore profits would increase by Z%.  As always, the Japanese staff members did not argue as he would 'lose face'.  Sales crashed dramatically - and eventually the Manager was 'recalled'.  The CEO in USA asked the Japanese Management - Why?  They explained that because Johnny Walker Black Label was the most expensive scotch and everyone knew it, people bought it as a 'gift' and buying the most expensive scotch was deemed to be a very high token of respect. When the price dropped and it was no longer the most expensive, people stopped buying it because to buy a 'cheaper' gift was considered an insult.

[AussieBob]

11 minutes ago, HiuMak said:

I love Thai airways. One of the best second tier airlines which you don't pay crazy prices for. Food is good and service is impeccable. I hope it stays afloat. Looking forward to fly with Thai again some day.

I have to disagree - because it depends on the route and airline used on that route. We flew from one city in Australia direct to Bangkok and the flight was good - great new plane and a top level crew. We flew direct from another city and the flight was terrible - old crappy plane and disorganised flight crew.  As in all airlines, the best pilots and crews get to work on the best planes.  The plane is important - same as the airline. 

[HiuMak]

17 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

I have to disagree - because it depends on the route and airline used on that route. We flew from one city in Australia direct to Bangkok and the flight was good - great new plane and a top level crew. We flew direct from another city and the flight was terrible - old crappy plane and disorganised flight crew.  As in all airlines, the best pilots and crews get to work on the best planes.  The plane is important - same as the airline. 

I guess the route do determines the plane type and age. It is with most airlines. In the area of Flight service i cannot complain much as it is generally good with Thai airways and I love Thai food they serve on board. 

I don't think paying Qantas prices will get you any better flight experience you get with Thai.

[AussieBob]

52 minutes ago, HiuMak said:

I guess the route do determines the plane type and age. It is with most airlines. In the area of Flight service i cannot complain much as it is generally good with Thai airways and I love Thai food they serve on board. 

I don't think paying Qantas prices will get you any better flight experience you get with Thai.

Agree 100% about the Thai food - so much better than available on other airlines.  But, if something goes wrong during the flight, you will definitely have a 'better flight experience' with Qantas.

I have found Qantas overall is much better than Thai - except for the food.  We have flown Aust to Thailand and back many times, and we have used most of the airlines (even AirAsia - never again). Qantas overall is the best - usually the better planes, usually the better crews (but not as lovely), and always the best pilots. The other 'biggies' to check are the seats and the onboard entertainment system.  AirAsia has the smallest seats and bugger all 'entertainment'. Qantas usually has the biggest seats. Singapore has the best entertainment system.

But as I said before, the main thing is to check which airplane is scheduled for that route with each airline (sometimes will change, but usually not). Then check the pricing. Then decide based on those 3 issues first, and the other 2 issues second.  Price is not the number one - nor is any stopover length - unless way too high price, or way too long a stopover.  I can deal with bad food, better than I can deal with a very uncomfortable small seat designed for an Asian person and no entertainment system. 

The Thai wife doesnt really care about the 'comforts' - she sleeps most of the flight, doesn't eat much, never uses the entertainment system (has IPad), and is comfortable sitting or sleeping on a rock.  Overall, I have found that none are perfect every time - so I now stick with Qantas usually.  Next time, I will also put that Taiwan airline (EvaAir) into the list of options.