Thai Airways anticipates 130 billion baht revenue this year

Thailand’s flagship carrier, Thai Airways (THAI) is optimistic about its revenue this year. Thai Airways is anticipated to accumulate at least 130 billion baht in revenue this year after its net profit in the first quarter reached 12.5 billion baht.

THAI CEO Chai Eamsiri announced yesterday that the airline is projected to complete its financial rehabilitation in 2025 as planned, Bangkok Post reported.

Eamsiri highlighted that the national carrier generated 41.5 billion baht of revenue during the first quarter, an impressive increase of 271.2% compared to the income of 11.1 billion baht during the same period last year. This notable growth is attributed to the rise in commercial flights.

Eamsiri also pointed out that flights to some popular tourist destinations, such as Japan and Korea, surged in the last quarter, and flights to China resumed on March 1.

The improved earnings provided the carrier with 42.2 billion baht of cash flow, a significant increase from 5.7 billion baht last year.

Eamsiri stated that the carrier would repay the first tranche of debt, amounting to at least eight billion baht, to investors by mid-2024, and will fully settle its 140 billion baht total debt within the planned ten years.

Regarding the airline’s performance in the second quarter of this year, Eamsiri expects growth of over 100% compared to last year. However, he acknowledged that Thailand is entering the low season for tourism. Consequently, the passenger load rate is expected to be around 77%, and earnings may be lower than the first quarter.

Furthermore, Eamsiri announced that the airline would be increasing employee salaries by 5% starting this month.

In March, Thai Airways announced its summer schedule and expanded its services around the globe. The Thai Airways will add 39 routes to Europe, nine to Asia, and 30 routes to China for the summer.

Between March 26 and October 28, more routes are operating and flights will run more frequently on the most travelled routes. Thai Airways kickstarted the summer season schedule by launching five new routes to China at the beginning of this month with 14 flights per week in total.