Thai Airways will deploy its B787-8 aircraft on the Bangkok–Dubai route from May 7.
Flight TG517 will depart Bangkok daily at 1615 and arrive in Dubai at 1940. The return flight TG518 will then take off from Dubai at 2055 and touch back down at 0640 the following day.
The Dreamliner will replace the A330-300 currently serving the route, which will result in an overall drop in capacity.
The A330 offers a two-class configuration with 36 seats in business and 263 in economy; the B787 will feature the same two-class layout, but will offer only 24 seats in business and 240 in economy.
Capacity reduction may be due to heavy competition from Emirates, which operates twice-daily A380 flights to the Thai capital. Alone, the Gulf carrier offers 6,846 seats per week on its Dubai–Bangkok service, which stifles Thai Airways’ growth on this route.
As a result of Thai’s aircraft change, the carrier’s planned B787 service on the Bangkok–Beijing route has been suspended. The route will continue to be operated by a B777-200ER.
For more information, visit thaiairways.com
Clement Huang