Thai Airways CEO Chai Eamsiri on the Airline’s Future

Thai Airways International (TG) is Thailand’s flag carrier. It operates a diverse fleet of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft out of its Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) hub. 

In 2024, the airline reported improved financial performance, placed a future-proofing order for the Boeing 787, and absorbed Thai Smile into its fleet. Thai’s market share in Bangkok has decreased over the years; however, the airline is preparing to return and has all the right cards to do so.

Chai Eamsiri took office on February 1, 2023, after holding the position of Chief Financial Officer. He recently celebrated his 40th anniversary at TG and is driving the carrier’s exit from  its rehabilitation plan.

65 years, Rehabilitation Plan

Thai Airways will celebrate its 65th anniversary in 2025. The airline is preparing to introduce a new lineup of products, uniforms, amenity kits, and more. However, arguably the most significant news comes from the progress of Thai Airways’ rehabilitation plan. In this regard, Mr. Eamsiri commented:

“Our 65th anniversary in May coincides with the fifth anniversary of our rehabilitation plan. According to our plan, we will officially exit the rehabilitation process in June and return to Thailand's Stock Exchange. This means we will resume operations as a normal, privatised public company.”

He added:

“Everything is proceeding on schedule. We have already submitted the necessary documents, and the next step is to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on April 18. This will be the final shareholder meeting required to fulfill our rehabilitation plan commitments. Once we obtain approval from this meeting, we can submit the minutes to the bankruptcy court as proof that we have met all major criteria. We expect the court to issue an order by the end of May. Following that, we will submit our filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to resume trading. By the end of May, we anticipate officially exiting financial rehabilitation and resuming normal operations as a publicly traded company.”

“This is a major milestone for Thai Airways. Over the past four and a half years, we have been committed to fulfilling our promises to creditors as well as to our business partners. Part of the rehabilitation process required us to work closely with our business partners, who are not necessarily creditors but are still key stakeholders. Now, we can proudly say that we have delivered on our commitments. This May will mark our official return, and we will return stronger than before.”

The Fleet

Thai Airways retired its four-engine airliners during the pandemic in favor of more efficient aircraft, reintegrated and updated the Thai Smile fleet, placed orders for wide-bodies, and leased narrow-bodies. How is Thai Airways securing its fleet’s future?

“Despite being under financial rehabilitation, we have continued improving our products and services, particularly our aircraft. Some might question why we are acquiring new aircraft while still in rehabilitation, but securing new aircraft requires advance planning. If we hadn’t made decisions last year, we wouldn’t have access to new aircraft now. The aircraft production backlog is immense.” Chai told Airways.

He continued, “At the Singapore Airshow, we placed an order for up to 80 aircraft, including the Boeing 777X. The 777X is a large aircraft capable of carrying up to 440 passengers, making it a strong replacement for the 777-300ER. However, we are still evaluating whether we will commit to the 777X. While it is a potential option for our future fleet, we have not yet made a final decision.”

He added. The Boeing 777X is the most logical replacement for the Boeing 777-300ERs, and as Chai explained, it is a long-term investment. Paradoxically, the delays in aircraft deliveries are granting Thai Airways more time to assess its high-demand aircraft for the future, and the A350-1000 has not been ruled out either, thanks to the commonality with Thai Airways’ A350-900s.

Boeing 787, 777

In February 2024, the airline announced an agreement for 45 firm Boeing 787s and 35 options powered by GE Aerospace engines. As explained by Chai, the airline had to act fast to ensure timely deliveries. However, the order details were not disclosed at the time of purchase: to meet high-demand markets in Asia, the airline will first take delivery of the Boeing 787-10, the larger variant of the Dreamliner.

What aircraft will be retrofitted, and what will be the new product on board the Boeing 787? Will it include premium economy?

“The new fleet will include business class, premium economy, and economy class. Additionally, we have 17 existing 777s and decided to retrofit 14 of them with updated interiors. Three of the aircraft were delivered during COVID-19, so they will not be retrofitted. Once the upgrades are completed, we will have a consistent product across 44 wide-body aircraft. There has been speculation about whether Thai Airways will continue offering first class. Currently, only three of our aircraft have first class. Moving forward, the new fleet of 44 aircraft will not include a dedicated first-class cabin. However, modern business-class designs have significantly improved, and some first-row business-class seats will offer an experience close to first class.

The new business-class seats will feature privacy doors and a higher level of comfort. The exact seat design has already been chosen, and we will unveil it soon. This will be part of a major announcement for our 65th anniversary.”

Here, Thai Airways is not following the recently popular trend of airlines discontinuing or rebranding their First Class products. Eamsiri confirmed to Airways that the Royal First Class product is here to stay. For years, the airline has been one of the very few in the world to fly the Boeing 777-300ER with a nine-abreast configuration in economy class. The aircraft’s wide fuselage is almost exclusively fitted with a ten-abreast layout, arranged in the typical 3-4-3 configuration. However, the 3-3-3 will soon be abandoned with the airline’s cabin refreshment.

“We conducted extensive research and found that over 90% of airlines now use a 3-4-3 configuration in economy class. Thanks to new seating technology, we can offer better space efficiency while maintaining passenger comfort. The seat pitch will remain consistent with our current standards.”

A321neo

The leased A321neo will also see the introduction of a new business-class product. Like the seats installed on board Aer Lingus, flydubai, and TAP Portugal, Thai Airways will install lie-flat beds in business class, arranged in a 2-1, 1-2 configuration, with an iconic “throne” seat for each row.

“The cabin will be equipped with 16 lie-flat seats. If you look at the vertical configuration, it will be two-one-two with a third seat. The last 16 seats will be for lie-flat and then 90-degree flat, with Wi-Fi connectivity and the new in-flight entertainment. The first one will be delivered in early November in 2025, and we will officially release the design soon. It will be on par with the other airlines in the region. In the past, we didn’t have a business class to capture regional markets. Now, it will be a single product from the original to the destination. That will give the customer more satisfaction with our new product and increase our revenue by capturing those markets.”

The airline has selected the CFM LEAP 1A to power its A321neo and invested in maintenance shops for it. Importantly, the facilities also include the possibility of upgrading to service the LEAP-1C, used by the COMAC C919. Thai Airways is monitoring the Chinese market closely, and offering maintenance services on the 1C could be a turning point.

Finally, the airline is not interested in the A321XLR as, despite its higher range, it would “cannibalize” its regional wide-body operations to high-density markets.

Airbus A380

Thai Airways' CEO ruled out the return of the Airbus A380 anytime in the future; of the existing six units the airline has, only four could be restored. As Chai told us:

“We did a lot of deep study on it. We look at a very holistic analysis. First, the return to service cost is very high. When we pop it, we almost run through all the cycles or both engines and the aircraft itself. That needs a lot of capital for the engines. Second, the aircraft cell is very big, and it can be used only for specific locations and specific airports. Third, right now, we have six of them. We can reserve only four possible ones to serve because the other two are too hard to recover. So it is not logical for us to keep those aircraft. Those aircraft can only be used on certain routes. So that’s why we decided not to keep them in flight. We’re answering the long-term fleet management of the future. We’ll have only three aircraft types: the A350, the 777, and the 787, and one narrow body, which is the A320 family. The existing aircraft that we are keeping for the interim solution is the A330 because we still haven’t gotten the new one yet. So, that’s why we have to keep or find an interim solution to maintain our capacity, let’s say. But in the long run, it will only be four families in the future.”

New Products, Network

The new and existing wide-bodies will be equipped with a new reverse herringbone seat, with the first row of business class sporting a special, more spacious design. The demand for a premium economy has proven strong, motivating Thai Airways to install a cabin on board all of its twin-aisle aircraft in the future. While selecting the new business class product, many seats were taken into consideration, including the Collins Aerospace AirLounge, currently equipped onboard Finnair’s long-haul fleet. Eamsiri also confirmed to us that Starlink won’t be installed on the new Boeing 787s due to the inoperability in the Chinese airspace, which would otherwise limit the connectivity offer.

Mr Eamsiri also commented that, before opening new routes in Europe, the airline will prioritise adding more connections to existing ones, such as Munich (MUC), where Thai Airways flies its A350 daily. However, this will only be possible once the aircraft capacity is restored.

Regional Market Outlook

Thai Airways operates in a competitive airspace where some of the world’s best carriers fight to secure and improve their networks. More competition is coming from the expanding aviation sector in India, with IndiGo recently announcing more connections to Bangkok and Phuket, and the deployment of the larger leased Boeing 787-9 from Delhi to Bangkok. About Thai Airways’ market, Chai told us:

“China is a key market for us—specifically, North Asia. China has historically been our largest market, followed by Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. However, the Chinese market has been slow to recover since the pandemic due to internal economic challenges. 

That said, we are still operating in China. Currently, we fly to five cities with a total of 35 flights each week. Before the pandemic, this number was much higher. While we have not yet returned to pre-pandemic frequencies, we are carefully managing our revenue strategy.

On the other hand, India has emerged as a robust market for us. This is why we have expanded our capacity there—we now operate flights to nine cities in India, and the response has been very positive. While we recognize the risks associated with China’s slower recovery, we are offsetting this by expanding our presence in India. However, this doesn’t mean we are abandoning China—we are preparing for its eventual recovery.

By the end of this year and into next year, we will have increased capacity as we acquire new aircraft. Securing additional fleet capacity in today’s market is challenging, but we are making every effort. By 2027, we anticipate receiving our new-generation aircraft, which will further enhance our fleet.

India presents a tremendous potential market for us—not only for point-to-point travel but also for transit passengers traveling to ot

her destinations, especially Australia. There is substantial traffic between India and Australia, and Bangkok acts as an outstanding connecting hub between these two regions.

Back to the US?

Thai Airways previously operated direct flights from Thailand to North America, though these efforts were unsuccessful. The routes have been difficult to maintain due to intense competition from Asian airlines that are geographically closer to the United States.

Is there a long-term ambition to resume connections to North America?

“During our operation in the US, we haven’t made a profit in over 10 years. We used to operate in Seattle, Dallas, then Tokyo, and Los Angeles. We tried moving from a different angle to stay in the US. But during the past two decades, Thai Airways hasn’t made any profit at all. Every year was a loss of one to two billion a year. But if we have to go back to the US or how we can make a business in the US to win against the other choices, it has to be big enough capacity and efficiency. For example, before we stopped operating in the US, we used to fly from Bangkok, through Korea, all the way to Los Angeles for five flights a week. This is negligible compared to our competitors from Korea, Taiwan or Japan”

About the possibility of flying the Boeing 787-9 non-stop to the West Coast, he added:

“A direct flight from Bangkok to the US. In order to fly those flights, we would need another type of aircraft. Or even we could use the 787-9. But there would be penalties on the load factor. So, that means we can’t fully utilise the economic value of the aircraft. The second handicap is that the longer you fly, the less fuel efficiency you get because you have to carry more weight the longer you fly. That means the cost of the direct flight is more than the one-stop flight. Yes. That means you have to charge more. What happens if we charge more for a direct flight, say 10% or 20% more? The passengers will choose to fly one stop.”

Stopover Program, Fifth Freedom Flights?

Many global airlines have successfully implemented or are considering implementing stopover programs. As one of the world’s most popular destinations, Thailand has much to offer, making it sensible to assess a stopover program now. Quoting Chai:

“We are looking at designing an option within our booking engine where passengers can choose from various stopover programs if they have a layover in Bangkok. This initiative is not just about creating opportunities but also generating additional revenue through partnerships with hotels, car rentals, and medical insurance providers. It benefits both Thai Airways and the country by attracting passengers who originally intended only to transit through Bangkok. For instance, if a passenger has a layover of two or three days, they could be offered a suggested itinerary, accommodation, and activities, making their stopover a more enjoyable experience.”

“I don’t think the government will let go of the freedom right now because Thai Airways is still too small. The government’s target is to bring in more tourists, which benefits Thai Airways. That’s why they give us the freedom. We need to expand and become stronger and bigger to capture those markets.

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