Thai Airways’ A380 will feature 507 seats in three classes, with 12 in Royal First class and 60 in Royal Silk (executive) class, which is the highest number of seats amongst other Asian A380 operators (see our comparison table of all A380s in service now here), yet is less than the 517 seats on Emirates' superjumbo.
There will be 24 cabin attendants onboard each Thai A380 flight, tending seven galleys and food service stations – more than any other airline, according to a press release by the carrier.
First class will offer super-sized toilets and a dressing area. The enlarged galley is equipped to prepare meals timed to each passenger’s individual preference
Thai Airways president, Piyavasti Amranand, who wrapped up a tour at Airbus’ Toulouse facility this week, told Business Traveller:“Everything is on time. We have seven A330s coming in, with two to be delivered at the end of this year. It’s interesting to see the progress being made on our planes”
Piyavasti also went to see a mockup of A380. “I think we have made the right decision [to purchase A380s],” he said. The carrier considered canceling the order of the six A380s in 2009 amidst global financial crisis, but later decided to instead postpone delivery to 2012 (see story here). Piyavasti, who joined the company in October 2010, admitted that the delay was regrettable.
“We have lost considerable market share because of the inferior product quality to competitors with A380s before us. We hope to regain our market with the A380s coming in, particularly on Europe and Australia routes, which have been heavily affected by competition.”
He hoped that the superjumbo would attract passengers to fly with them in quarter two, traditionally a low travel season for Thailand. “Quarter two has been worse for us because of competition… I believe that there is still demand there, as we see that competitors can still fill seats if they have good products,” he said, adding that he hoped the new planes would help Thai take better advantage of Bangkok’s status as a transit hub. “We provide the most convenient way to travel to Europe via Bangkok.”
The first Thai Airways’ A380 flight is expected to commence in August next year, with all the other five expected to be all operational by 2013.
The configurations of the seats are:
Royal First
83” pitch
26.5” wide
Fully flat bed with 23” AVOD interactive touch screen
Royal Silk
74” pitch
20” wide
Fully flat recline with 15” AVOD interactive touch screen
Economy:
32” pitch
18” wide
10.6” AVOD seatback touch screen
For more information, visit www.thaiairways.com
Reggie Ho
