Nok Air may not be able to complete its business rehabilitation in the court stipulated five-year period due to fuel costs, forex rates and aircraft availability said the airline CEO, Wutthiphum Jurangkool while speaking to Bangkok Post. The court has granted the airline a timeframe by the second half of 2026 to finished the rehabilitation plan.
"Regarding the pace of rehabilitation, fuel cost remains higher than in 2019 and the exchange rate and airplane restoration must be factored in. Passenger demand is quite strong, but it depends on how fast we can increase the jet fleet to cater to that growth. The airline also faces manpower shortages,” commented Jurangkool.
The airline entered rehabilitation process about a year and half back, and since then the airline is seeing better days due to strong travel demand.
“The airline was meeting its financial commitments per the rehabilitation plan,” the airline said in a recent filing. So far, the airline has only paid down 2% of the agreed amount to creditors.
The CEO also said that lack of aircraft availability is impacting its proposed plan of fleet and route expansion that would lead to more revenue. Besides he also clarified that proposed merger of Thai Airways International and Thai Smile would not impact Nok Air’s operations. Thai Airways owns a 31.28% stake in Nok Air.
Meanwhile the airline has phased out its last DHC-8-Q400s and is planning to add six narrowbody aircraft. The airline currently has a fleet of 14 B737-800s.