NokScoot laying off employees

NokScoot will bid farewell to a large number of staff while scaling down operation size amid rumours the airline will permanently exit the market soon. Thai AirAsia warned more airlines may collapse if they cannot access government soft loans. NokScoot said a review of operations led it to take steps to rationalise the business to cope with the huge impact caused by pandemic. "Despite some early signs of stabilising, demand for air travel is not expected to return to 2019 levels until 2022 or 2023," said NokScoot, a joint venture of Nok Airlines and Singapore's Scoot. NokScoot will return three aircraft from the five-jet fleet to the parent company in Singapore by the end of this month, resulting in a reduction of more than 50% of the workforce. The airline said all affected employees will be paid severance in accordance with Thai labour law. A source said NokScoot is preparing to stop operations in Thailand soon as selected staff received an official letter from the company informing them about the termination. NokScoot is among eight airlines requesting help from 24b baht in soft loans from the government. "If the government does not approve the soft loans airlines have requested, when Thailand opens to international travellers there may not be enough jets to serve them as many airlines have serious cash flow problems," said Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation and the largest shareholder of Thai AirAsia.<br/>