Thai Airways International (THAI) is to cut back on its key Bangkok-Sydney route as the carrier struggles with the fallout from the country's political crisis.
Sydney flights are a major source of most Asian airlines' long-haul revenue as passengers from Europe use the so-called kangaroo routes, with stopovers in southeast Asia or Hongkong, to reach Australia.
According to reports in the Thai media, the airline is looking to reduce Bangkok-Sydney flights from thrice-daily to two a day from August 1, 2010. However, THAI will raise Bangkok-Brisbane flights to five a week from the current three.
The airline also plans to increase flights between Thailand and Indonesia to 21 a week from 14 on July 1, subject to agreement on traffic rights. As a fellow ASEAN member state, Indonesia is a major trading partner of Thailand and its economy is being forecast by some analysts to grow by 7 percent in 2011.
Kenny Coyle
