Thailand: Airlines post hefty losses in first half

Airlines experienced first-half losses and only expect a modest improvement during the remainder of the year as a ban on domestic flights has worsened the pace of recovery in air travel. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways, said the lack of international flights and adjustment of domestic operations to meet travel demand caused its revenue to drop 88.8% in the first six months of this year. The airline reported total revenue of 2.8b baht, down 61.8% year-on-year. TAA's revenue during the first half of this year plummeted 75% to 2.43b baht, while its net loss increased to 3.56b baht from 1.81b the previous year. "The new outbreak in April directly impacted operation in May and June. The airline had to adjust flight frequencies amid the outbreak to preserve cash flow," said Santisuk Klongchaiya, CE of Thai AirAsia (TAA). The number of passengers stood at 1.7m, down 65% as the average load factor was at 64%. He said the second half will see a slight improvement in the operation as the severe pandemic and sluggish vaccination triggered the CAAT to impose travel restrictions on domestic flights from July 21. TAA has suspended operation to comply with the CAAT's announcement from July 12 until Aug 31. Santisuk said the airline has to shift its plan to the non-aero business to offer various products and services via the AirAsia super app in which AirAsia Group acquired Gojek's operations in Thailand last month.<br/>