Bangkok Air talking to Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier for 20 planes

Bangkok Air will soon submit specifications for an order of 20 narrow-body planes to Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier, its President Puttipong Prasattong-Osoth said. The carrier, which currently has 12 Airbus 319s and nine Airbus 320s, will pick one manufacturer for the order by the end of the year, Puttipong said Friday. "The good thing is, once we change our planes to all be the same model, the cost of operation and maintenance will be lower," he said. The full-service carrier is striving to support earnings by containing costs as oil prices climb and fierce competition limits pricing power. Shares in Thailand’s airlines have struggled because of such pressures, despite the kingdom’s unprecedented tourism boom of recent years. Bangkok Airways has tumbled more than 40% since listing in 2014. "Every year we manage to post profits," said Puttipong. "But when it comes to the stock price, it really is a complicated mechanism -- one that we can never anticipate."<br/>