Angel Air suspends services

BANGKOK (AFP): Private airline Angel Air said today it is looking for partners after suspending all flights due to financial problems. The airline, which was given an operating permit by the government in 1998 as part of a broad plan to liberalize Thai aviation, said in a statement it was looking for help from another airline. “Angel Air has recently suspended all flights in order to undergo a major restructuring of the company,” Somchai Bencharongkul, the company’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. The restructuring plans include selecting a more suitable type of aircraft than the airline’s 200-seat Boeing 757-200, adjustment of existing routes and finding another airline as a partner, he said. Angel Air began operations on September 19, 1998 with a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It has since expanded aggressively into regional routes to southern China, Singapore and Laos. But the airline has suffered losses on domestic routes, many of which duplicate those Thai Airways International.