Thai carriers boost Q1 capacity but big operating losses persist

Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, and Thai AirAsia parent Asia Aviation all posted operating losses in the first quarter, even though Covid-19 travel restrictions have started to fall away. In their results for the three months to 31 March, all three carriers mentioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a significant negative factor, particularly because Russia supplies a large number of leisure tourists. The disappearance of Chinese tourists amid Beijing’s tough stance against coronavirus infections remains a major overhang. China aside, the carriers also felt that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continued to weigh on travel demand in the first quarter. Thai Airways International was able to sharply reduce its operating loss for the three months ended 31 March to Bt3.2b ($92.5m), compared with an operating loss of Bt7b a year earlier. Total operating revenues tripled to Bt11 billion, with “passenger and excess baggage” revenue rocketing nearly five-fold to Bt4.5. The carrier’s net position also improved with net losses narrowing to Bt3.2b from Bt12b in Q1 2021. ASKs for the quarter nearly tripled, while RPKs rose nearly six-fold. Load factors, however, remained weak, rising 15.2 percentage points to just 32.5%.<br/>