Thai Airways International is in advanced talks with Boeing and Airbus to add more aircraft as a part of its fleet modernization strategy. The airline plans to add 20 twin-aisle passenger jets, Bloomberg reports, to meet the rising passenger demands in Southeast Asia.
According to sources, Thai Airways held talks with Boeing for purchasing 787-9 widebody aircraft. People close to the matter have revealed that the airline is also in talks with Airbus but no further information was made public as the discussion was 'strictly confidential'.
Thai Airways recently signed a codeshare with Singapore Airways to expand THAI’s network to more service points in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Europe, India and Southwest Pacific routes. Just last month the airline revealed that it had restored 60% of the pre-pandemic capacity due to increased demand with Thai Smile restoring 90% of its pre-pandemic capacity.
To meet this demand the airline expects to add five more wide-body aircraft and four narrow-body aircraft to its fleet next year to meet its revenue projection, sources claim.
Thai Smile is expected to recover domestic and regional routes in Southeast Asia as well as secondary cities in China and India while THAI is aiming to resume flights to major cities in mainland China, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The airline has predicted the passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific to grow 4.5% and reach 2.53 billion by 2040, surpassing all other regions.
Presently, THAI has 44 aircraft in service at present, compared with 83 before the pandemic.