Thai Airways to keep some old planes instead of selling

Thai Airways International is bringing back almost half a dozen aircraft originally put up for sale in an effort to revive flights more quickly amid buoyant demand. The global air travel recovery from Covid has put a squeeze on newer planes that are available on the open market, chairman Piyasvasti Amranand said in an interview at the airline’s headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday. As a result, the carrier is struggling to find capacity available on operating lease, prompting Thai Airways to hold onto its own aircraft, he said. “It’s not all that easy now, the market is changing -- to be getting new or second-hand leasing of wide-bodies or narrowbodies,” the chairman said. He was speaking ahead of the carrier hosting of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines annual meeting on Nov 10-11, which counts Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways among its 14 members. Three Airbus SE A330s and two Boeing Co 777-200ERs will return to service early next year, joining four new A350s that Thai has already secured. As part of the restructuring plan, the state-controlled national carrier planned to add a total of 10 wide-bodies next year and a further eight in 2024. The airline has 61 aircraft in its fleet right now, including 20 for its low-cost unit Thai Smile, down from around 100 previously. Thai Airways is the midst of a court-monitored debt restructuring, having already undertaken painful cuts which saw it eliminate half of its workforce and 40% of its fleet. <br/>