THAI expects bankruptcy court to approve revised rehabilitation plan

Thai Airways International (THAI) is expecting its revised rehabilitation plan to be approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court. The submitted revision comes after the ailing carrier bounced back better than expected after its Covid-19-induced downfall. But, its rehab plan hasn’t come without pushback from some creditors.

Chai Eamsiri, the airline’s acting chief financial officer and senior chief, says once the plan is approved, the company will continue with its debt restructuring programme.

“THAI wants to ensure it has strong finances so it can recapitalise when the time is right.”

Chai says once the plan kicks in, the company will lose its status as a state enterprise. The Finance Ministry’s company shares will see a drop from 44 per cent to 33 per cent once the plan commences.

“The plan marks the point of no return for THAI, as afterwards, it will go ahead as a [public] company, not a state enterprise.”

The revised plan will give creditors more shares than state agencies in the company, a move that Chai says will reduce political influence over the company’s operations.

“Reducing such influence will enable the board to professionally manage the airline.”

Chai says the company expects to complete its rehab plan in two years. He says he expects the company to continue to do better than last year. THAI has projected it will carry 4.5 million passengers this year. Chai says this passenger volume will be boosted even more if Japan and China reopen this year.

According to the International Air Transport Association, this year’s traffic in July was up by almost 60 per cent compared to the same time last year. Domestic traffic in July was up by 4.1 per cent compared to last year as well. The total domestic traffic for July 2022 was at almost 87 per cent of the July 2019 level.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post