Last month, Thai Airways revealed plans to approach the ruling military junta’s “superboard” for financial assistance over what it described as an “anticipated liquidity problem”; the sums being discussed amounting to around THB7bn.
Today, according to Thai media, those plans have been cancelled.
Thai’s acting chairman Areepong Bhoocha-oom said on Wednesday that the national flag carrier had previously anticipated a liquidity problem this month, but its financial status - including its liquidity - had improved sufficiently that it would no-longer need any special borrowing this year.
The improvement is attributed to cost-saving measures, a reduction in capacity by way of a reduction in the number of services, the postponement of delivery of two new aircraft from this year to the middle of next year, and increasing income from ticket sales from Thailand’s tourist high season.
Areepong said the airline’s normal cash flow and credit lines would now be sufficient to maintain its operations until March 2015, but he also admitted that the aircraft deliveries now delayed until 2015 would raise expenses next year. Areepong also said he hoped that Thai could turn a profit in the fourth quarter of this year.
This news comes as yet more evidence of the ongoing strengthening of the industry in the APAC region, which stands in contrast to the turmoil in the EU, what with Lufthansa’s third industrial action within a fortnight taking place today, and multiple, previously-issued profit warnings from the legacy carriers, and massive internal restructuring imminent in AFI-KLM as well as several others. With Ryanair’s massive 737 MAX order this week, the evidence suggests only the EU’s LCC sector will enjoy any future stability. This week’s renewed rhetoric from the Russian government over the potential closing of its airspace to Western aircraft will certainly not help matters.