BANGKOK, 15 November 2023: Thai Airways International forecasts rising travel demand during Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, traditionally the high season for travel to and from Thailand.
But it warns the aviation industry remains highly competitive as airlines resume services and redeploy aircraft to increase seat capacity to reach pre-pandemic levels. This can be seen in the resumption of a Bangkok-Copenhagen service by SAS for the winter timetable to tap what is popularly called the snowflake market as Europeans escape the severe winter weather for warmer climates. Lufthansa has scheduled the return of its A380 on the Bangkok-Munich route for the winter season.
In the look-forward notes attached to its financial results for Q3 2023, the airline points to the slow recovery of Chinese tourists mainly due to the country’s economic recess, rising fuel prices, and costs of overseas ground customer services. They remain a challenge for THAI in managing yield, optimising expenses, and implementing the organisational transformation plan to complete the debt and capital restructuring processes under the rehabilitation plan’s timeframe.
THAI reported its operational performance results for the third quarter of 2023 (July to September) earlier this week, confirming total revenue, excluding one-time transactions, reached THB37,008 million, higher than last year, which stood at THB32,860 million.
Passengers carried reached 3.27 million, 2.19 million by THAI and 1.08 million by THAI Smile Airways, an airline subsidiary due to be phased out by the end of 2023. THAI’s overall average cabin factor stood at 77.3% (THAI: 77.1% and THAI Smile Airways 80.9%), up just three percentage points from the same period last year, which was 77%.
THAI and its subsidiaries reported the total expenses, excluding one-time transactions, at THB29,289 million, higher than the previous year, which was THB28,940 million due to an increase in variable costs and fuel expenses, which was THB11,995 million.
However, THAI and its subsidiaries reported a net profit of THB1,546 million compared to a net loss of THB4,780 million in Q3 2022.
In the first nine months of 2023, THAI and its subsidiaries reported revenue, excluding one-time transactions, at THB115,897 million, higher than last year’s THB65,567 million. Total expenses, excluding past transactions, stood at THB86,567 million.
For the full nine months, Q1 to Q3, the airline reported an operating profit of THB29,330 million, up from an operating loss of THB548 million in 2022. The airline reported a net profit of THB16,342 million for the first nine months of 2023.
