airlines
- Covid-19 News
Complete Thailand Travel Guide (October 2020)
Latest update – October 21. If you are overseas and wish to come to Thailand your FIRST port of call must be the Royal Thai Embassy in your country before you make any bookings. Thailand Longstay is also a valuable resource of information at this time. First ‘tourists’ arrive in Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa In 2019, almost 40 million tourists…
- Transport News
10 international airlines now offer flights to Thailand
With Covid-19 travel restrictions – slowly – easing up, 10 international airlines have started selling flights to Thailand, the Ministry of Transport announced. The airlines include: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Eva Air and KLM. Don’t get too excited. It’s still not easy to get into Thailand. All international arrivals must go through a…
- Business News
Struggling airlines to get reprieve through small loans, extension to fuel tax cut
Airlines in Thailand are being offered a financial lifeline, as the Government Savings Bank announces soft loans for carriers left struggling as a result of the current Covid-19 ‘disruption’. Nation Thailand reports that the GSB is offering the loans over a 60 month period, with an annual interest rate of 2%. Chairman Patchara Anuntasilpa says the proposal will shortly be…
- Tourism News
Food services return to Thailand’s domestic flights
If you’ve travelled on a Thai domestic flight recently you’ll know that it’s been a relatively boring experience. One the safety demo is over, that’s the last you see of the flight attendants as they head to the back of the plane and chat – there’s been nothing else for them to do because of the ban on food and…
- Food
Missing airline food? Thai Airways has a solution
What’s the deal with airline food? Some people think it’s actually good. Really good. Thai Airways is selling their “high quality” airline meals on land since many flights are grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions. They’ve had such a great response over the past 2 months that they’re extending their weekly lunch special. From 9am to 2pm today…
- Economy News
New lease on life for 7 of Thailand’s budget airlines
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today threw a lifeline to 7 of Thailands’ domestic low-cost airlines, beginning with the injection of 24 billion baht in soft loans for the struggling aviation sector, battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Representatives of Thai Air Asia, its long haul division Thai Air Asia X, Thai Smile, Thai Lion Air, Thai Viet Jet, Bangkok Airways and Nok…
- World News
Vietnam evacuates 80,000 following 3 new Covid-19 cases in Da Nang
After the surprise appearance of 3 new Covid-19 cases, Vietnam officials announced they are evacuating 80,000 people from the central coastal city of Da Nang, mostly tourists. Any festive activities, celebrations, religious ceremonies, sports activities and crowded events in public places, stadiums and large venues are now banned. “The evacuation will take at least four days with domestic airlines operating…
- Business News
NokScoot downsizes, airlines ask for financial help
Travel restrictions and flight cancellations across the globe have caused once busy sky traffic to go quiet as airlines are taking a battering from the coronavirus outbreak. Less of the bird-like, yellow beaked planes will be in the air as the popular budget airline NokScoot just announced it’s downsizing their fleet and laying off employees to try and keep the…
- World News
Garuda Airlines cabin crew to abandon face masks following complaints
After a number of complaints from passengers (we assume male passengers), Indonesian carrier Garuda Airlines is preparing to have cabin crew ditch face masks in favour of face shields. The decision comes after some passengers said they couldn’t tell if the crew were smiling, pouting, angry or couldn’t care less. In response, Garuda CEO Irfan Setiaputra says the airline will…
- Covid-19 News
Global aviation in acute crisis
by Andrew J Wood “…by the end of May 2020 most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.” Global aviation has been battered and commercial scheduled air traffic remains mostly grounded as countries enforce their lockdowns and travel restrictions. There are few signs that the end is in sight. For the largest of carriers like IAG (British Airways), United, American…
- World News
Former Garuda Indonesia CEO jailed over aircraft engine rort
A former CEO for Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has been jailed for bribery and money laundering. The sentence was related to the procurement of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce for the airline. Emirsyah Satar has been handed down an 8 year sentence and fined US$1.4 million by the country’s corruption court. Mr. Satar served as CEO of…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Friday, April 17
Healthcare leader predicts 200,000 people could be infected with Covid-19 Despite the relatively low number of new coronavirus cases in Thailand, hospitals are already reaching capacity in dealing with patients that need ICU treatment and ventilators… this from Boon Vanasin, chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group. He claims that the three main hospitals in Bangkok specialising in Covid-19 treatment are already…
- Covid-19 News
Thai airlines have their hands out for an extra 8.8 billion baht
The Cabinet approved loans totalling 16 billion bath on March 26 for 7 Thai airlines who had endured a negative impact, or a complete collapse, from the Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday reports out of the aviation industry say that the number of airlines looking for government aid for low-interest loans is now up to 24.15 billion baht. A total of 8…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s flight arrival ban extended to April 30
Thailand’s nationwide ban on inbound flights was yesterday extended to at leastApril 30 by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, to help control the spread of Covid-19. CAAT’s director-general announced the extension on the agency’s webpage this morning. It is the third extension of the ban, which was first imposed back on April 3. He cited the need to maintain…
- Economy News
Airlines offered drop in landing fees and fuel excise at Thai airports
Airlines, international and domestic, have been hit hard with the impact on travel following the Coronavirus outbreak. Over the past month there’s been daily announcements of cancellations of flights and rescheduling to cope with border closures and daily changes in the coronavirus evolution. The Thai Cabinet yesterday approved a relief package which had been proposed by the Transport Ministry for…
- Business News
Thai Airways announces losses over 12 billion baht for 2019
Thai Airways International and its affiliates incurred a net loss of 12.017 billion baht last year, that’s 448 million baht more than the year before. The airline has been accumulating losses year on year for over a decade. Speaking about the losses at the announcement yesterday, the vice president of finance and accounting Nattaphong Smit-Ampaisal says that the airline was…
- Covid-19 News
World travel suffers as coronavirus outbreak drags on
The Public Health Ministry is asking Thais planning trips to Japan and Singapore to reschedule their visits, saying that travellers need to be aware of the rising number of people infected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) in those two countries. Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima, the permanent secretary at the Thai Public Health Ministry, says the coronavirus outbreak had reached the third stage…
- Thailand News
Thai, Air Asia suspend flights to Wuhan because of Novel Coronavirus
Thai Airways and Thai Air Asia are both taking steps to prevent any possible spread of Novel Coronavirus pneumonia through tourist arrivals from Wuhan, the source of the outbreak. Thai Air Asia, which operates two daily flights to Wuhan from Bangkok and one from Phuket, suspended services yesterday. Meanwhile Malaysia-based Air Asia, has also suspended scheduled flights to and from Kota Kinabalu…
- World News
Bangkok to Hong Kong the world’s second most popular flight, what’s the most popular?
The world’s top five flying routes are all in the Asia Pacific region, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA) report. Aviation writers say the growth can be attributed to the addition of flights operated by low-cost carriers in the region. Passenger traffic between Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) and Hong Kong airport is Number Two on the list of the airports…
- Business News
Thai Airways under pressure to deliver workable business plan
Thai Airways is coming under more pressure, after being given 30 days to deliver its new rehabilitation and business plans. Thaworn Senniam, the Deputy Transport Minister, gave the instruction yesterday while meeting with the executive of the national carrier for an update on its financial status. He says the business plan must provide clear information on how the fortunes of…
- World News
Travel giant Thomas Cook teetering on financial collapse
Unable to adapt to the move online as smaller, nimbler travel companies thrive, Thomas Cook, the household name in international travel, is close to financial collapse. And the collapse could leave up to 150,000 British tourists stranded overseas. The iconic British travel giant Thomas Cook say they’ve failed to find any further private investment to stave off collapse and now…
- Chiang Mai News
Bangkok Airlines schedules more flights out of Chiang Mai
Competition is heating up on two direct airline routes out of Chiang Mai – to Krabi and Luang Prabang in Laos. But Bangkok Airways is facing tough competition on the direct Chiang Mai – Krabi route, already served with three daily Thai AirAsia flights, while Bangkok Airways will schedule only three flights in March and up to the the end…
- World News
The mystery of Myanmar’s missing airlines
PHOTO: Asian Wings Airways Any trip on a local airline usually means planes either full or mostly full. But some of Myanmar’s smaller local airlines have been struggling through this year’s wet season along with a drop in tourism to the country of around 6% for the past 12 months. At least three airlines appear to have thrown in the…