Thai Airways plans to sell 42 jets and cut workforce to reduce costs

Thai Airways International Pcl (THAI.BK) will sell 42 planes and cut nearly a third of its workforce as part of a plan to slim down the fleet and cut costs, the head of its restructuring committee said on Monday.

The airline, which was in difficulty well before the pandemic struck, is going through a bankruptcy-protected restructuring.

Piyasvasti Amranand, who is leading the effort, said that the planes being sold are old and not energy efficient. He said 16 jets on lease will be returned.

After the sale, the airline will have 58 planes across four types.

Thai Airways has been losing money nearly every year since 2012.

Piyasvasti said the airline planned to add more flights especially from Europe over the next few months as travel recovers.

On Monday, the Thai government reopened the country for quarantine-free travel for vaccinated tourists. read more

Piyasvasti said that Thai Airways will reduce the number of workers from 21,300 to 14,500 by December 2022.

To help with cash flow, the airline will conclude a 25 billion baht ($749.18 million) credit agreement with financial institutions by next year and is in talks with the government for an additional 25 billion baht, he said.

The airline booked a profit of 11.1 billion baht ($332.63 million) in the six months ending in June from a loss of 28 billion baht during the corresponding period a year earlier after reducing expenses. ($1 = 33.3700 baht)

Chayut Setboonsarng www.reuters.com