Thai Airways has begun flying its Airbus A350 aircraft on its Bangkok-Melbourne route, a year after it had originally planned to deploy the aircraft on services to the Victorian capital.

The A350 is now flying daily between the two cities, replacing the Boeing 777-300 that previously flew the route.

Thai had originally aimed to upgauge to the A350 on its Melbourne route in September last year, a month after it first took delivery of the aircraft. However, “additional inspections and requirements from Australian authorities” on the aircraft forced the carrier to delay its deployment.

In total, Thailand’s flag carrier expects to take delivery of 12 A350s – four purchased and eight on lease. The carrier’s fifth was delivered back in July.

Last month, Thai also began flying the A350 on its London service, shortly before it took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Meanwhile, the airline’s regional subsidiary Thai Smile has begun flying daily between Bangkok and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

thaiairways.com