Back in April we reported that Thailand’s national airline was seeking US$2.2 billion in state aid.

Our article elicited many reader comments some of which blamed That Airways’ management for its predicament.

Then in May we reported a “reform plan” for the airline had been approved by the Thai Cabinet.

Thai Airways to restructure under bankruptcy court

Since then matters have taken a turn for the worst. Thai Airways continues to remain grounded so is losing huge amounts of revenue being unable to fly internationally.

Thailand was expected to open its borders to foreign visitors from September 1 but that date has been shelved and, judging by readers’ comments on our forum, Bangkok or maybe the whole of Thailand might remain closed until 2021.

Now the Bangkok Post has published an article quoting deputy transport minister Thaworn Senneam blaming the downfall of Thai Airways on mismanagement and corruption.

According to Mr Thaworn the losses of at least 62.8 billion baht started in 2008 shortly after Thai Airways had acquired a fleet of Airbus A340s (A340-500s and A340-600s).

These aircraft are fuel guzzlers and soon after they entered service fuel prices became high.

This especially applied to the ultra long range A340-500 which used to operate non-stop between Bangkok, Los Angeles and New York.

According to Mr Thaworn every single flight on the Bangkok-New York route made a loss during the time the service operated. (Hence at that time Thai Airways abandoned the route long before Singapore Airlines).

Indeed I remember writing a piece for this website. In those days (when fuel was expensive) an analysis of ticket revenue concluded fares were not even covering fuel costs.

thaiairways.com