Thai Airways International and its wholly owned subsidiary Thai Smile Airways will merge following creditor approval, THAI CEO Chai Imsiri said. The creditors' committee decided to merge as part of the parent company's restructuring plan.
This year, THAI will take over 20 Thai Smile aircraft that were leased from THAI. This step will reduce operating costs by 20% and increase daily flight hours by 11 hours.
Increased use of Thai Airways aircraft will improve their efficiency. Currently, Thai Smile's average use of aircraft is only 9 hours per day, compared to 12-13 hours for THAI. The use of Airbus A320 aircraft from Thai Smile will allow Thai Airways to increase daily flight hours by 11 hours. This will allow the airline to expand its network of domestic and international routes, extend night flights and reduce operating costs by 20%.
This is a positive outcome of THAI's restructuring process, said the CEO. THAI will also announce the decision of the creditors' meeting to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, after which the process of transferring the rights to operate 20 aircraft will begin. Notifications will be sent to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand and the Ministry of Transport. In this regard, the licenses of Thai Smile as an air carrier are cancelled.
