Thai Airways has used the delivery of its fifth A350 aircraft from manufacturer Airbus in Toulouse, France to transport school supplies to underprivileged children in Thailand.
The aircraft, which was received at the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse last Friday (July 14), carried some 1,000 sets of school supplies under its “Thai Goodwill Flight” project. This included 150 backpacks and stationary from Aviation Without Borders, 50 backpacks from the International School of Toulouse and 800 kits from Airbus Foundation, according to the airline’s acting president, Usanee Sangsingkeo.
Thai Airways took delivery of its first A350 back in August last year, and has a total of 12 on order – four purchased and eight on lease. The Thai flag carrier has said it will be using the aircraft to increase flight frequencies on popular routes, while simultaneously decommissioning some of its older aircraft.
According to the airline, the A350 is currently operating on its domestic routes between Bangkok and Chiang Mai and Phuket, as well as its international services to Milan, Rome, Dubai and Frankfurt (which connects to its Bangkok-Phuket A350 service).
The carrier was meant to deploy the aircraft on its Melbourne route last September, however this was impeded by the need for “additional inspections and requirements from Australian authorities on Thai’s newest aircraft type”. Thai Airways instead flies its B777-300 on the route.
Thai Airways configures its A350 with 321 seats in a two-class set up, including 32 Royal Silk Class (business) seats in a staggered 1-2-1 formation. About 41-46 inches separate the seat rows, while the seats themselves have 21 inches of width and are fully flat. Meanwhile economy has 289 seats laid out 3-3-3, with each offering a 32-inch pitch and 18-inch width.
A detailed look at Thai Airways’ A350 can be found here.
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