Thai Airways will no longer be adding Dusseldorf to its network in December.
Last month, it emerged that Thai planned to launch a four-times weekly B747 service between Bangkok and the German city (see news, August 16).
But the airline has now changed its mind.
A source at the airline told our sister publication Business Traveller Asia-Pacific that Thai has this week decided to put its plans for a Dusseldorf service on ice, but was unable to say why.
The most likely scenario is that the Germans did not approve Thai's application for traffic rights.
Interestingly, Bangkok was one of the destinations suggested for German flag carrier Lufthansa's new long-haul "budget carrier". And it so happens that this new venture is likely to set up base at either Dusseldorf or Cologne.
Another explanation could lie in Thai's ongoing fiscal woes that could have steered it away from opening a new long-haul service that comes with a heavy implementation price tag.
Dominic Sebastian Lalk
