Thai Airways sell 13-year-old unused A340s

30th Aug 2022

Cherdphan Chotikhun, chief technical officer of THAI, said that the bidder had already signed a deal to acquire the five A340-500 and A340-600 aircraft to a bidder for a total of 350 million baht.

Cherdphan said that the five aircraft would be sold for more than their estimated worth. THAI is waiting for the Transport Minister to give the go-ahead for the buyer to buy the five planes.

Cherdphan says that THAI still owns a further four out-of-service A340-series planes and is in talks with possible buyers.

The sale of the five Airbus A340 aircraft was the most recent sale of THAI's decommissioned aircraft since the national carrier's restoration programme began.

THAI has previously earned 2 billion baht from the sale of one Boeing 737-400 and ten Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

Cherdphan acknowledged that it was difficult to sell defunct A340-series aircraft, something THAI had been attempting to do for years.

The rehabilitation programme was recognised for the current sale's success.

"Once we entered the rehabilitation programme, we were able to divulge complete information about the aircraft, and we are now open to prospective buyers in an honest manner," Cherdphan added.

He said that THAI had advertised the sale on its website (www.thaiaircrafttrading.com) and emailed over 500 potential bidders.

"In the past, we were constrained by the laws of state-owned companies, which provided us practically no opportunity to sell obsolete aircraft." Because of this, THAI had to pay for the costs of the old planes for years," Cherdphan said.

The Cabinet approved THAI's rehabilitation under the Bankruptcy Act in May 2020, while the airline's petition for protection was approved by a court in June 2018.

After declaring a total debt of 245 billion baht at the end of 2019, THAI filed for bankruptcy protection. This year, the airline is required under the rehabilitation programme to reduce its staff from 30,000 to 15,000 and to reduce expenses to 53 billion baht.

THAI purchased ten A340-Series aircraft in 2003, during the first term of the Thaksin Shinawatra administration and Thanong Bidaya's tenure as THAI's board chairman.

Over 200 billion baht were budgeted for the purchase of 39 aircraft by THAI between 2002 and 2004.

The A340 series aircraft were used for direct flights from Bangkok to New York City and Bangkok to Los Angeles. The two lines, on the other hand, lost a total of 7 billion baht over three years, which is why they were shut down in 2008.

The Royal Thai Air Force bought one A340-500 plane after taking ten A340-series planes out of service and storing the other nine at Utapao Airport.

Cherdphan said that THAI plans to sell 14 more planes, including two Airbus A380s, six Boeing 777-300s, and six Boeing 777-200s.

"We are certain that we will sell every unit. "We now know where to find buyers, our sales process is transparent, and we have the experience to do it," Cherdphan added.

He noted that THAI aims to charter two Airbus A350-900 aircraft to extend operations during the first quarter of next year, when additional flights are anticipated.

Cherdphan said that THAI intends to utilise five decommissioned aircraft in the fourth quarter of this year, including two Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft and three Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

THAI has a fleet of 61 aircraft as of June 21, However, 20 Airbus A320-200 planes are in use by Thai Smile, leaving the national flag carrier with 41 jets for operation, including 12 Airbus A350-900 planes, four Boeing 777-200ER planes, 17 Boeing 777-300ER planes, and eight Boeing 787 planes.

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