The national airline takes over operation of 9 domestic routes
Thai Airways has taken over the operation of 9 domestic routes from Thai Smile Airways following the restructuring of its business model that has seen it integrate its subsidiary, Thai Smile Airways, which operates domestic and short-haul international flights.
The airline will now operate the following nine domestic routes on its winter schedule using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Flights starting from December 1
Bangkok-Chiang Mai: daily, 35 flights per wee
Bangkok-Phuket: daily, 56 flights per week
Bangkok-Udon Thani: daily, 21 flights per week
Flights starting from January 1
Bangkok-Khon Kaen: daily, 28 flights per week
Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani: daily, 14 flights per week
Bangkok-Krabi: daily, 14 flights per week
Bangkok-Hat Yai: daily, 21 flights per week
Bangkok-Narathiwat: daily, 7 flights per week
Thai Airways CEO Chai Eamsiri announced earlier that THAI was in the process of transferring 20 Airbus A320 aircraft previously operated by Thai Smile back to the Thai Airways fleet.
The transfer is expected to be completed by January.
Thai Airways is currently in the process of integrating various functions of the organisation and bringing Thai Smile Airways' employees back under the Thai Airways umbrella.
All pilots and crew members of Thai Smile will continue their duties on Airbus A320 aircraft as before.
However, they will operate under the original structure of Thai Airways as a single airline, providing services on both domestic and international routes under the TG code. The Thai Smile Airways code (WE) will no longer be in use.
The consolidation is expected to enhance the efficiency of aircraft utilisation.
Currently, Thai Smile Airways has an average aircraft utilisation rate of approximately 9 hours, while Thai Airways maintains an average utilisation rate of 12-13 hours per day, with some segments utilising aircraft around 16 hours per day.
