Misplaced Pages

#517482

176-570: Operating from its primary hub at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport , THAI currently serves 51 international and 10 domestic destinations using a fleet of 79 aircraft consisting of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus with 89 aircraft on order as of October 2024, with plans to increase its fleet to 143 aircraft by 2029. Currently THAI's route network is dominated by flights to cities in Europe, Asia and Oceania flying to 30 countries as of August 2024 including 9 domestic routes. THAI

352-470: A Boeing 747-400 and an Airbus A300-600 , simultaneously departed the airport at 09:19 to Singapore and Hong Kong respectively. At 15:50 the same aircraft flew back and made simultaneous touchdowns on runways 19L and 19R. These test flights demonstrated the readiness of the airport to handle traffic. On 15 September 2006, the airport started limited daily operations with Jetstar Asia operating three Singapore to Bangkok flights. Bangkok Airways moved to

528-532: A Boeing 777-200ER flew 20,044 km (10,823 nmi; 12,455 mi) from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur. Formulated in 1991, the A340-400X concept was a simple 12-frame, 20 ft 10 in (6.35 m) stretch of the −300 from 295 to 335 passengers with the MTOW increased to 553,360 to 588,600 lb (251 to 267 t) and the range decreased by 1,390 to 10,930 km (750 to 5,900 nmi). CFM International

704-508: A major air cargo hub , with a total of 95 airlines. On social networks, Suvarnabhumi was the world's most popular site for taking Instagram photographs in 2012. Suvarnabhumi reassigned the IATA airport code , BKK , from Don Mueang after that airport ceased international commercial flights. Motorway 7 connects the airport, Bangkok, and the heavily industrial eastern seaboard of Thailand , where most export manufacturing takes place. During

880-990: A "concrete" solution", said Tony Tyler, IATA 's director general and CEO. In January 2007, Thai Airways announced a plan to move some of its domestic operations back to Don Mueang International Airport due to overcrowding. Three days later, the Ministry of Transport recommended temporarily reopening Don Mueang while repair work on the runways at Suvarnabhumi proceeded. At that time, Thai Airways said it would shift most of its domestic flights back to Don Mueang while keeping flights with high international passenger connections such as Chiang Mai and Phuket at Suvarnabhumi. On 28 March 2009, Thai Airways discontinued all domestic flights from Don Mueang. Bangkok Airways and One-Two-GO Airlines had similar plans, but Bangkok Airways remained at Suvarnabhumi. Thai AirAsia said it would not move unless it could shift both its international and domestic operations, prompting them to stay at Suvarnabhumi for

1056-421: A 12,400 km range (6,700 nmi; 7,700 mi) with 210–250 seats in 3-class. The most common A340-300 reached 63.7 m (209 ft) to accommodate 250–290 passengers and could cover 13,500 km (7,300 nmi; 8,400 mi). The A340-500 was 67.9 m (223 ft) long to seat 270–310 over 16,670 km (9,000 nmi; 10,360 mi), the longest-range airliner at the time. The longest A340-600

1232-616: A 2% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. However, the plan was later abandoned on grounds of cost and difficulty of development. Airbus had held discussions with McDonnell Douglas to jointly produce the aircraft, which would have been designated as the AM 300 . This aeroplane would have combined the wing of the A330 with the fuselage of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 . However, talks were terminated as McDonnell Douglas insisted on

1408-493: A 2003 one $ 10M, projected to fall to $ 7M in 2021 with a $ 200,000/month lease rate falling to $ 180,000 in 2021; its D check cost $ 4.5M and its engine overhaul $ 3–6M. In 2005, 155 B777s were ordered against 15 A340s: twin engine ETOPS restrictions were overcome by lower operating costs compared to quad jets and the relaxation of ETOPS requirements for the A330, 777, and other twinjets. In 2007, Airbus predicted that another 127 A340 aircraft would likely be produced through 2016,

1584-487: A 56 m (184 ft) span , the wing was later extended to 58.6 m (192 ft) and finally to 60.3 m (198 ft). This wingspan is similar to that of the larger Boeing 747 -200, but with 35% less wing area. The A340 uses a modified A320 glass cockpit , with side-stick controls instead of a conventional yoke . The main instrument panel is dominated by six displays , cathode-ray tube monitors initially then liquid crystal displays . Flight information

1760-594: A Category 2 rating, Thailand's air carriers can continue existing routes to the United States but they won't be allowed to establish new routes to the United States." The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) declined to blacklist any Thai carriers following a review of certain carriers in November 2015. Thai later received third country operator (TCO) certification from the EU, effective 15 December 2015, authorizing

1936-589: A bakery production facility, food supply for airline lounges, as well as food production for banquet services and Thai Catering restaurants in domestic airports around the country. Another facility is open for producing food for flights departing from in Krabi Airport. Thai Catering received the Best Economy Class Onboard Catering Award from Skytrax between 2011-2014 and 2016-2018. In 1995, after reporting losses within

SECTION 10

#1732786553518

2112-434: A capacity of handling 76 flight operations per hour, co-locates the international and domestic terminals, though assigning them to different parts of the concourse. In the initial phase of construction, it was capable of handling 45 million passengers and three million tonnes of cargo per year. Above the underground rail link station and in front of the passenger terminal building is a 600-room hotel operated by Accor under

2288-572: A colour that is used throughout the airline from uniforms to interior cabin colour schemes. In 1999, THAI first painted the Royal Barge Suphannahong aircraft livery on its Boeing 747-400 (HS-TGJ) aircraft, royally bestowed the name “Haripunchai” on the occasion of the Sixth Cycle Birthday of King Rama IX. This also applied on another Boeing 747-400 (HS-TGO, Bowonrangsi ), making both aircraft identical. To mark

2464-443: A declaration expressing concern over the adverse impact of escalating fuel expenses on its trans-Pacific long-haul routes, emphasizing a disproportionate burden on these particular flights. Consequently, the airline outlined its strategic decision to curtail the frequency of such flights and reallocate its fleet to cater to shorter routes, notably those connecting Hong Kong and Australia. The company's primary objective, as articulated by

2640-503: A derivative of the A310, was designed upon the availability of "ten ton" thrust engines. Using four engines, it would seat between 180 and 200 passengers, and have a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi). It was deemed a replacement for the less-efficient Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s still in service. The A300B11 was joined by another design, the A300B9, which was

2816-463: A disgrace to her family and religion, she barricaded herself in the hotel room, opened a Twitter account to plead for her freedom, and requested assistance from United Nations agents to get her to the Western world , away from her family, as a resettled refugee . As her pleas for help went viral, Thai agents agreed to let her go to Canada to start a new life without Islam . In January 2021,

2992-478: A five-hour stop; this was the first non-stop flight between Europe and New Zealand and the longest non-stop flight by an airliner at the time. The 19,277 km (10,409 nmi; 11,978 mi) flight from Paris to Auckland broke six world records with 22 persons and five center tanks. Taking off at 11:58 local time, it arrived back in Paris 48 hours and 22 minutes later, at 12:20. This record held until 1997 when

3168-461: A fully independent national airline in the shortest possible time. Thai nationals were gradually able to assume full managerial responsibility and the number of expatriate staff duly decreased, with expatriates accounting for less than one percent of staff based in Thailand in 1987. The airline's first intercontinental services using Douglas DC-8s started in 1971 to Australia , and then to Europe

3344-503: A fully laden aircraft that could fly from Singapore to Paris, against strong headwinds during mid-winter in the northern hemisphere. The MD-11, according to test results, would experience fuel starvation over the Balkans. Due to the less-than-expected performance figures, SIA cancelled its 20-aircraft MD-11 order on 2 August 1991, and ordered 20 A340-300s instead. A total of 200 MD-11s were sold, versus 380 A340s. The first flight of

3520-591: A greater proportion of an aircraft's fuel fraction just to take off and to stay airborne. In 2008, Air France-KLM 's chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon disparagingly referred to the A340 as a "flying tanker with a few people on board". While Thai Airways consistently filled 80% of the seats on its New York City–Bangkok flights, it estimated that, at 2008 fuel prices, it would need an impossible 120% of seats filled just to break even. Other airlines also re-examined long-haul flights. In August 2008, Cathay Pacific issued

3696-408: A halt, with analyst Nick Cunningham pointing out that the A340 "was too heavy and there was a big fuel burn gap between the A340 and Boeing's 777". Bertrand Grabowski, managing director of aircraft financier DVB Bank SE, noted "in an environment where the fuel price is high, the A340 has had no chance to compete against similar twin engines, and the current lease rates and values of this aircraft reflect

SECTION 20

#1732786553518

3872-548: A higher wing limited MTOW for more range. However, the four engines of the A340-200/300 burn more fuel than the A330-200/300. The wings were designed and manufactured by BAe, which developed a long slender wing with a high aspect ratio for a higher aerodynamic efficiency. The wing is swept back at 30 degrees, allowing a maximum operating Mach number of 0.86. To reach a long span and high aspect ratio without

4048-428: A hope in hell". International Airlines Group , the parent of Iberia Airlines (which is also the operator of the last production A340 built), is overhauling its A340-600s for continued service for the foreseeable future, while it is retiring its A340-300s. The IAG overhaul featured improved conditions and furnishings in the business and economy classes; the business-class capacity was raised slightly while not changing

4224-511: A large weight penalty, the wing has relatively high thickness-to-chord ratio of 11.8% or 12.8%. Jet airliners have thickness-to-chord ratios ranging from 9.4% ( MD-11 or Boeing 747 ) to 13% ( Avro RJ or 737 Classic ). Each wing also has a 2.74 m (9.0 ft) tall winglet instead of the wingtip fences found on earlier Airbus aircraft. The failure of the ultra-high-bypass IAE SuperFan , promising around 15% better fuel burn , led to wing upgrades to compensate. Originally designed with

4400-428: A larger chord needing a three-frame centre fuselage insert and retaining the existing front and rear spars, and a span increased by 3.5 to 63.8 m (11 to 209 ft), alongside a 25% increase in wing fuel capacity and four wheels replacing the centre twin-wheel bogie . A −500 with the larger wing and engines and three extra frames for 310 passengers would cover 15,725 km (9,770 mi; 8,490 nmi) to replace

4576-452: A larger derivative of the A300. The B9 was developed by Airbus from the early 1970s at a slow pace until the early 1980s. It was essentially a stretched A300 with the same wing, coupled with the most powerful turbofan engine available at the time. It was targeted at the growing demand for high-capacity, medium-range, transcontinental trunk routes. The B9 offered the same range and payload as

4752-610: A long-standing cooperative relationship and both our countries work continuously to meet the challenge of ensuring aviation safety. A Category 2 International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating means that the country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or its civil aviation authority—a body equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters—is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures. With

4928-580: A more cost-effective Rolls-Royce Trent variant needing less development and Pratt & Whitney suggesting a PW2000 advanced ducted propulsor, a PW4000 derivative or a new geared turbofan . In June 1997, the 250 kN (56,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500 was selected, with growth potential to 275 kN (62,000 lbf), derived from the A330 Rolls-Royce Trent 700 and the B777 Rolls-Royce Trent 800 with

5104-421: A motorist drove his car through security gates and onto the tarmac at the airport while it was in use. It was later revealed that the driver had been under the influence of methamphetamine, which was also discovered in the trunk of the car. The driver claimed that he had taken a wrong turn. Petty thieves and confidence men, the majority of them illegal taxi drivers or tour guides, are known to prey on tourists in

5280-477: A new route network management system. Following implementation, flight schedules were synchronized, allowing international passengers to transit via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi more conveniently. Thai planned to adjust thirteen route schedules, mainly in Japan , Australia , and India . Routes to Perth and Brisbane were announced. In February 2023, it has been announced that subsidiary Thai Smile will be dissolved as

5456-484: A part of the financial reconstruction. All the Thai Smile aircraft are to be reabsorbed by THAI Airways. Thai Catering began operations on 20 April 1960 by renting out a hangar at Don Mueang Airport for airline meal production. The current headquarters are located at Suvarnabhumi Airport in a 120,000 square meters facility and is able to produce 87,000 meals per day. The facility at Don Mueang Airport remains in use as

Thai Airways International - Misplaced Pages Continue

5632-556: A reduced fan diameter and a new LP turbine, for a 7.7% lower TSFC than the 700. Airbus claims 10% lower operating costs per seat than the −300, 3% below those of what Boeing was then advertising for the 777-300X. The $ 2.9 billion program was launched in December 1997 with 100 commitments from seven customers worth $ 3 billion, aiming to fly the first −600 in January 2001 and deliver it from early 2002 to capture at least half of

5808-501: A return to the US using Boeing 787-9 by 2017. However, Charamporn Jothikastira, THAI president, turned down the possibility of returning to Los Angeles or New York City due to losses in the past. Instead, Thai considered other cities such as San Francisco and Seattle . While Thai Smile , its subsidiary, planned new regional routes such as Cebu , Medan , Surabaya , Chandigarh , Shantou and Tianjin . In August 2016, Thai introduced

5984-521: A separate entity and merged into Thai Airways by 2024 in an effort to reduce losses. The last flight of Thai Smile occurred on December 31, 2023. The current safety video was introduced in 2018. Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation president Rungsit Kanjanavanit stated his belief that the video does not sufficiently reflect Thai culture as the animals and flowers used are more commonly found in South America. As part of THAI's broader growth strategy in

6160-562: A series of restructuring initiatives, including a two-year deferral of its Airbus A380 deliveries, the carrier returned to a net profit of 2.5 billion baht. Thai's need for reform became evident in the first decade of the 21st century, but reforms, when they came, were invariably cut short. Thai's problems were threefold: ineffective leadership at the top; inexperienced boards; and a coddled union. Piyasvasti Amranand took Thai's helm in October 2009 after serving as energy minister. At Thai, he

6336-661: A subsidiary of Bang Chak Corporation , with the aim of expanding the distribution of its products to at least 100 branches of Inthanin Coffee in Bang Chak gas stations by 2022. In 2006, Thai Airways moved its hub to the new Suvarnabhumi Airport . Coinciding with the arrival of new aircraft in the mid-2000s, as well as its new hub in Bangkok, the airline launched a brand renewal by introducing new aircraft livery, new aircraft seating, and revamped ground and air service. The logo on

6512-538: A three-leg main landing gear instead of two for a heavier 276 t (608,000 lb) Maximum Takeoff Weight ( MTOW ). Both airliners have fly-by-wire controls, which was first introduced on the A320 , as well as a similar glass cockpit . The A340-500/600 are longer, have a larger wing , and are powered by 275 kN (62,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500 for a heavier 380 t (840,000 lb) MTOW. The shortest A340-200 measured 59.4 m (195 ft), and with

6688-565: A total of 120 parking bays (51 with contact gates and 69 remote gates), with five of these capable of accommodating the Airbus A380 . Suvarnabhumi Airport has 72 jet bridges and 69 non-jet bridges. Additionally, flights are able to park at remote locations on the ramp, from which airport buses transport passengers to and from the terminal. Suvarnabhumi Airport has 18 jet bridges and 6 non-jet bridges for Airbus A380 . The airport's two runways can accommodate 64 flights per hour. At peak times

6864-412: A twin[jet], while Asians wanted a quad[jet]. In Europe, opinion was split between the two. The majority of potential customers were in favour of a quad despite the fact, in certain conditions, it is more costly to operate than a twin. They liked that it could be ferried with one engine out, and could fly 'anywhere'— ETOPS (extend-range twin-engine operations) hadn't begun then. The first specifications of

7040-553: A −300 stretch for 50 more passengers over the same range, a −300 with the −200 range and a −200 with more range. These models were slated to be introduced in 1996. In 1995, the A340-400 was slated for introduction in the year 2000, seating 380 passengers with a 300 t (660,000 lb) take-off weight. In April 1996, GE Aviation obtained an exclusivity for the 13,000 km (7,000 nmi; 8,100 mi) 375-passenger −600 stretch with 226 kN (51,000 lbf) engines, above

7216-567: Is a long-range , wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus . In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300 , its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with the A330 twinjet. In June 1987, Airbus launched both designs with their first orders and the A340-300 took its maiden flight on 25 October 1991. It was certified along with

Thai Airways International - Misplaced Pages Continue

7392-494: Is a twin-aisle passenger airliner that was the first long-range Airbus, powered by four turbofan jet engines. It was developed with technology from earlier Airbus aircraft and their features like the A320 glass cockpit ; it shares many components with the A330, notably identical fly-by-wire control systems and similar wings. Its features and improvements were usually shared with the A330. The four engines configuration avoided

7568-452: Is a niche, the A340 was less attractive with best usage on long, thin routes, from hot-and-high airports or as interim air charter . A 10-year-old A340-300 had a base value of $ 35m and a market value of $ 24m, leading to $ 320,000/mo ($ 240,000–$ 350,000) lease rate, while a −500 is $ 425,000 and a −600 is leased $ 450,000 to $ 500,000 per month, versus $ 1.3m for a 777-300ER. The lighter A340-300 consumes 5% less fuel per trip with 300 passengers than

7744-492: Is currently the main hub for Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways , as well as the operating base for Thai VietJet Air and Thai AirAsia . It also serves as a regional gateway and connecting point for various foreign carriers connecting to Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa. Suvarnabhumi was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September 2006. The airport

7920-431: Is designed with structural elements and bays placed in a cantilevered , wavelike form to appear to "float" over the concourse beneath. This overall design principle was to express the former essence of the site, from which water had to be drained before construction could begin. The eight composite 2,710-ton trusses supporting the canopy of the main terminal are essentially diagrams of the bending moments acting on them, with

8096-655: Is directed via the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and systems information through the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM). The aircraft monitors various sensors and automatically alerts the crew to any parameters outside of their normal range; pilots can also inspect individual systems. Electronic manuals are used instead of paper ones, with optional web-based updates. Maintenance difficulty and cost were reduced to half of that of

8272-508: Is its successor; the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the Boeing 777 were its main competitors. By the end of 2021, the global A340 fleet had completed more than 2.5 million flights over 20 million block hours and carried over 600 million passengers with no fatalities. As of March 2023 , there were 203 A340 aircraft in service with 45 operators worldwide. Lufthansa is the largest A340 operator with 27 aircraft in its fleet. When Airbus designed

8448-804: Is located on the underground floor of Suvarnabhumi Airport, which also links to the Airports' Novotel Hotel adjacent to the main terminal. The ARL hours of service are 06:00 to 00:00. The ARL has two interchange stations, namely Phaya Thai (changing for BTS Green Line services) and Makkasan (linking Phetchaburi station of the MRT Blue Line ). In the future, the ARL will complement the SRT Red Line commuter service, which comprises two-meter gauge, dual-track lines. The ARL may also be extended from Phaya Thai to Don Mueang via Bang Sue Grand Station , given that

8624-482: Is no longer the majority shareholder, having reduced its holding to 47.86 percent from 51.03 percent. On 6 December 1987, services to Auckland in New Zealand were inaugurated. On 1 April 1988, then-Prime Minister Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda , merged the international and domestic operations of the two companies to form the present company, Thai Airways International, to have a single national carrier. On 25 June 1991,

8800-650: Is now in a position to finalise the detailed technical definition of the TA9, which is now officially designated the A330, and the TA11, now called the A340, with potential launch customer airlines, and to discuss with them the terms and conditions for launch commitments. The designations were originally reversed and were switched so the quad-jet airliner would have a "4" in its name. On 12 May 1986, Airbus dispatched fresh sale proposals to five prospective airlines including Lufthansa and Swissair . In preparations for production of

8976-558: Is on what had formerly been known as Nong Nguhao ( lit.   ' Cobra Swamp ' ) in Racha Thewa in Bang Phli , Samut Prakan province , as well as the districts of Bang Kapi , Lat Krabang , Bang Na , and Prawet in the eastern side of Bangkok, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from downtown. The terminal building was designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects. It was constructed primarily by ITO JV . The airport had

SECTION 50

#1732786553518

9152-492: Is operated by SRTET, a subsidiary company of the State Railway of Thailand . The standard gauge line is 28.6 kilometres (17.8 mi) long and is elevated for most of its length, running mostly above existing regional railway lines and parallel to Motorway 7 and Si Rat Expressway. There is a short at-grade/underground segment as the line approaches the passenger terminal building of Suvarnabhumi Airport. The ARL Station

9328-486: Is still regarded as a true reformer, imposing salary cuts for senior executives as part of his drive to reduce costs. He was voted out by the board in 2012 for what may have been political reasons. The board of directors was, after the 2014 Thai coup d'état , packed with military brass. Five civilian members were purged and replaced with five Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) generals, as was the board's chairman. The appointments ended Thai's policy of only appointing technocrats to

9504-536: The Airbus A300 during the 1970s it envisioned a broad family of airliners to compete against Boeing and McDonnell Douglas , two established US aerospace manufacturers. From the moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal. Prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, Airbus had identified nine possible variations of

9680-613: The Airbus A340-500 fleet it acquired in 2005, Thai commenced non-stop flights between Bangkok and New York , its first non-stop service to North America . The airline later converted an existing one-stop service (via Tokyo ) to Los Angeles into a non-stop flight using the same aircraft type. Citing very high fuel costs, Thai discontinued the New York service in July 2008, even though the airline had been able to fill 80 percent of

9856-670: The CFM56 -5C4 was used as the sole engine choice instead of being an alternate option as originally envisioned. The later, longer-range versions, namely the A340-500 and −600, are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines. On 27 January 1986, the Airbus Industrie Supervisory Board held a meeting in Munich , West Germany , after which board-chairman Franz Josef Strauß released a statement, Airbus Industrie

10032-468: The COVID-19 pandemic , the airport was temporarily converted to a hospital and vaccination center. The need for the new airport was recognized in 1973 when 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of land was purchased 40 km (25 mi) east of Bangkok. The site, known as Cobra Swamp, was drained and named Suvarnabhumi, meaning "realm of gold". On 14 October 1973, student-led protests led to the overthrow of

10208-455: The ETOPS constraints such as more frequent inspections. The A340 has a low cantilever wing ; the A340-200/300 wing is virtually identical to that of the A330, with both engine pylons used while only the inboard one is used on the A330. The two engines for each wing provide a more distributed weight; and a more outboard engine weight for a lower wing root bending moment at equal TOW , allowing

10384-538: The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) on Motorway 7. The name Suvarnabhumi is Sanskrit for "land of gold" ( Devanagari :सुवर्णभूमि IAST : Suvarṇabhūmi ; Suvarṇa is "gold", Bhūmi is 'land'; literally "golden land"). The name was chosen by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej whose name includes Bhūmi , referring to the Buddhist golden kingdom , thought to have been to the east of

10560-688: The French Air and Space Force , where it is used as a strategic transport for troop deployments and supply missions, as well as to transport government officials. A one-of-a-kind aircraft, the A340-8000, was originally built for Prince Jefri Bolkiah , brother of the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah . The aircraft was unused and stored in Hamburg until it was procured by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of

10736-696: The Ganges , possibly somewhere in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, government proclamations and national museums insist that Suvarnabhumi was somewhere on the coast of the central plains, near the ancient city of U Thong , which might be the origin of the Indianised Dvaravati culture. Although the claims have not been substantiated, the Thai government named the new Bangkok airport Suvarnabhumi Airport, in celebration of this tradition. The airport

SECTION 60

#1732786553518

10912-815: The House of Saud , and later sold to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi , then- President of Libya ; the aircraft was operated by Afriqiyah Airways and was often referred to as Afriqiyah One . In 2008, jet fuel prices doubled compared to the year before; consequently, the A340's fuel consumption led airlines to reduce flight stages exceeding 15 hours. Thai Airways International cancelled its 17-hour, nonstop Bangkok – New York/JFK route on 1 July 2008, and placed its four A340-500s for sale. While short flights stress aircraft more than long flights and result in more frequent fuel-thirsty take-offs and landings, ultra-long flights require completely filled fuel tanks to ensure an adequate fuel supply upon landing. The higher weights in turn require

11088-701: The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 , but it used between 25% and 38% less fuel. The B9 was therefore considered a replacement for the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar . To differentiate the programme from the SA studies, the B9 and B11 were redesignated the TA9 and TA11 (SA standing for "single aisle" and TA standing for "twin aisle"). In an effort to save development costs, it was decided that

11264-519: The Novotel brand. The airport's main passenger terminal was, at the time of construction, the world's largest passenger terminal ever constructed in one phase at 563,000 square metres (6,060,000 sq ft). The airport air-traffic control tower was the tallest in the world at 135 metres (443 ft) from 2006 to 2014. From the opening of Suvarnabhumi in 2006 to early 2017, eight people had fallen to their deaths from upper-floor walkways, prompting

11440-546: The Paris Air Show in June 1985, more refinements had been made to the TA9 and TA11, including the adoption of the A320 flight deck , fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system and side-stick control. Adopting a common cockpit across the new Airbus series allowed operators to make significant cost savings; flight crews would be able to transition from one to another after one week of training. The TA11 and TA12 would use

11616-613: The Snecma M88 turbofan engine used on the Dassault Rafale , is being developed under the European Clean Sky research initiative. In January 2021, Lufthansa, which was the largest remaining operator by then, announced that their entire Airbus A340-600 fleet will be retired with immediate effect and not return to service in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . Ultimately, Lufthansa reactivated their A340-600s in

11792-738: The "bio hub" of Asia. In April 2015, after an audit of the Thai Department of Civil Aviation, Thailand was downgraded from Category 1 to Category 2 due to negative audit results from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). On 1 December 2015, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced their reassessment of the safety rating for Thailand, downgrading it from a Category 1 to Category 2 country. The FAA stated, "U.S. and Thai aviation officials have

11968-471: The 1,500 sales forecast in the category through 2010. In 1998, the −600 stretch was stabilised at 20 frames for 10.6 m (35 ft), the MTOW rose to 365 t (805,000 lb) and the unit thrust to 52,000 to 60,000 lbf (230 to 270 kN), keeping the Trent 700 2.47 m (8.1 ft) fan diameter with its scaled IP and HP compressors and the high-speed, low-loading HP and IP turbines of

12144-478: The 10.07 m (33.0 ft) -600 stretch would offer a 25% larger cabin for 372 passengers over a range of 13,700 km (7,400 nmi; 8,500 mi). MTOW was increased to 356 t (785,000 lb). Unwilling to commit to a $ 1 billion development without good return on investment prospects and a second application, in 1997 GE Aviation stopped exclusivity talks for GE90 scaled down to 245–290 kN (55–65,000 lbf), leaving Rolls-Royce proposing

12320-541: The 1990s when Thai Airways began "buying every type of plane that was being manufactured." Different models meant that the airline had to train an army of technicians to keep differing airframes and engines from both General Electric and Rolls-Royce airworthy, significantly inflating maintenance costs. In the first decade of the 21st century, Thai Airways continued its route network expansion with new services to Chengdu , Busan , Chennai , Xiamen , Milan , Moscow , Islamabad , Hyderabad , Johannesburg , and Oslo . Using

12496-586: The 225.5 kN (50,700 lbf) limit of the CFM International engines made in partnership with SNECMA and dropping the 191 kN (43,000 lbf) CFMXX. The −600 would be stretched by 20–22 frames to 75 m (246 ft), unit thrust was raised from 227 kN (51,000 lbf) to 249 kN (56,000 lbf) and maximum takeoff weight would be increased to 330 t (730,000 lb). The wing area would increase by 56 m (600 sq ft) to 420 m (4,500 sq ft) through

12672-412: The 312 passengers 777-200ER while the heavier A340-600 uses 12% more fuel than a 777-300ER. As an effort to support the A340's resale value, Airbus has proposed reconfiguring the aircraft's interior for a single class of 475 seats. As the Trent 500 engines are half the maintenance cost of the A340, Rolls-Royce proposed a cost-reducing maintenance plan similar to the company's existing program that reduced

12848-469: The 777 with one-stop service (with the 330 minute rule) would be indefinite for years to come; the airline had no plans to pursue newer North America destinations (e.g., Houston) or purchase the Boeing 747-8 for transpacific routes since is operating the Airbus A380 . The 2000s also saw Thai expand its Thai airport network beyond its Bangkok hub. The airline launched non-stop flights from Phuket to Tokyo–Narita , Seoul–Incheon and Hong Kong . During

13024-524: The A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A tenth variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10. It was a smaller aircraft that would be developed into the long-range Airbus A310 . Airbus then focused its efforts on the single-aisle market, which resulted in the Airbus A320 family , which was the first digital fly-by-wire commercial aircraft. The decision to work on

13200-508: The A320, instead of a four-engine aircraft proposed by the Germans, created divisions within Airbus. As the SA or "single aisle" studies (which later became the successful Airbus A320) underwent development to challenge the successful Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9 in the single-aisle, narrow-body airliner market, Airbus turned its focus back to the wide-body aircraft market. The A300B11,

13376-535: The A330/A340, Airbus's partners invested heavily in new facilities. Filton was the site of BAe's £ 7 million investment in a three-storey technical centre with an extra 15,000 square metres (160,000 sq ft) of floor area. BAe also spent £5 million expanding the Broughton wing production plant by 14,000 m (150,000 sq ft) to accommodate a new production line. However, France saw

13552-453: The A340 occurred on 21 October 1991, marking the start of a 2,000-hour test flight programme involving six aircraft. From the start, engineers noticed that the wings were not stiff enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering . To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called a plastron was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons and to add stiffness. European JAA certification

13728-790: The A340 to be introduced, the A340-200, entered service with the launch customer, Lufthansa, in 1993. It was followed shortly thereafter by the A340-300 with its operator, Air France. Lufthansa's first A340, which had been dubbed Nürnberg (D-AIBA), began revenue service on 15 March 1993. Air Lanka (later renamed Sri Lankan Airlines ) became the Asian launch customer of the Airbus A340; the airline received its first A340-300, registered (4R-ADA), in September 1994. British airline Virgin Atlantic

13904-673: The A340 to private customers' specific demands prior to 2008. The A340 has frequently been operated as a dedicated transport for heads of state . A pair of A340-300s were acquired from Lufthansa by the Flugbereitschaft of the German Air Force ; they serve as VIP transports for the German Chancellor and other key members of the German government . The A340 is also operated by the air transport division of

14080-477: The A340's design proceeded, a radical new engine option, the IAE SuperFan , was offered by International Aero Engines, a group comprising Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney , Japanese Aero Engines Corporation , Fiat and MTU Aero Engines (MTU). The engine nacelles of the superfan engine consisted of provisions to allow a large fan near the rear of the engine. As a result of the superfan cancellation by IAE,

14256-685: The A340-200 on 22 December 1992 and both versions entered service in March 1993 with launch customers Lufthansa and Air France . The larger A340-500/600 were launched on 8 December 1997; the A340-600 flew for the first time on 23 April 2001 and entered service on 1 August 2002. Keeping the eight-abreast economy cross-section of the A300, the early A340-200/300 has a similar airframe to the A330-200/300. Differences include four 151 kN (34,000 lbf) CFM56s instead of two high-thrust turbofans to bypass ETOPS restrictions on trans-oceanic routes, and

14432-711: The Business Rehabilitation Plan and the amended plan, i.e. Mr. Piyasvasti Amranand, Mr. Pornchai Thiravet, Mr. Siri Jirapongphan, Mr. Kraisorn Barameeauychai, and Mr. Chansin Treenuchagron, has become the Plan Administrators who are authorized to operate THAI's business and implement the plan. On 1 July 2022, the Plan Administrator submitted the petition for plan amendment to the official receiver. On 1 September 2022,

14608-550: The Business Rehabilitation Plan of THAI, the Planner's clarification, and the official receiver's opinion regarding several issues, the Central Bankruptcy Court granted an order to approve THAI's Business Rehabilitation Plan as well as the amended plan following the acceptance resolution of the creditors' meeting on 19 May 2021. As a result, the Plan Administrator nominations whose names were proposed according to

14784-618: The Coronation of the King Rama X Thai Airways used a Boeing 777-300 (HS-TKF) to put the Suphannahong Royal Barge as its aircraft livery. The key trends of Thai Airways are (as at the financial year ending December 31): As of October 2019, Thai's accumulated debt amounted to more than 100 billion baht , prompting a deputy transport minister to question "...how serious the airline's executives were in dealing with

14960-827: The Council of State that it must shut down due to a technicality. In January 2017, a four-year investigation by the UK 's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) determined that aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce had paid bribes to Thai Airways employees and government employees in Thailand to secure orders for the Rolls-Royce T800 engine for its Boeing 777-200s. Rolls-Royce admitted to the charge and agreed to pay penalties. The illicit payments of US$ 36.38M took place between 1991 and 2005. Bribes were paid in three tranches : The government rejected calls for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his Section 44 powers to cut through red tape in

15136-492: The ICAO requirement had yet to be adopted as part of Thai law. As of early 2016, tarmac problems persisted at Suvarnabhumi. Soft spots on the tarmac, taxiways, and apron area had not been permanently fixed. Aircraft were getting stuck on the soft surfaces that are the result of sub-standard materials. "The constant resurfacing of the tarmac, taxiways and apron area with asphalt is an unacceptable patchwork solution. We literally need

15312-565: The Official Receiver held the creditors’ meeting via electronic means (e-Meeting). The creditors who hold 78.59 percent of the total claims of the creditors, who attended the meeting and cast votes, accepted the amendment of the Business Reorganization Plan that the Plan Administrator submitted to the Official Receiver. On 20 October 2022, the Central Bankruptcy Court issued an order approving the proposal for

15488-596: The Plan Administrators and THAI management. On 20 August 2020, then Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senniam announced some Thai Airways employees became unusually rich from the 2003-2004 10 Airbus A340 's procurement deal and other mismanaged projects, according to a police-led investigation team set up by the Ministry of Transport . The team is forwarding its findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and has been informed by

15664-546: The Plan amendment of the Company. On 21 October 2022, THAI informed the resignation of the Plan Administrator, effective as of October 21, 2022 as follows: 1. Mr. Kraisorn Barameeauychai 2. Mr. Siri Jirapongphan On 17 May 2023, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) held a creditor committee’s meeting that reached a resolution in favor of the company’s restructuring of business operation in aviation as proposed by

15840-459: The TA9 and TA11 were released in 1982. While the TA9 had a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi), the TA11 range was up to 6,830 nautical miles (12,650 km; 7,860 mi). At the same time, Airbus also sketched the TA12, a twin-engine derivative of the TA11, which was optimised for flights of a 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) lesser range. By the time of

16016-453: The Thai airport authority held a ceremony where 99 Buddhist monks chanted to appease the spirits. Full tests of the airport took place on 3 and 29 July 2006. Six local airlines — Thai Airways International , Nok Air , Thai AirAsia , Bangkok Airways , PBair , and One-Two-Go Airlines — used the airport as a base for twenty domestic flights. The first international test flights were conducted on 1 September 2006. Two Thai Airways aircraft,

16192-482: The Trent 800. Despite the −500/600 introduction, sales slowed in the 2000s as the Boeing 777-200LR/-300ER dominated the long-range 300–400 seat market. The A340-500IGW/600HGW high gross weight variants did not arouse much sales interest. In January 2006, Airbus confirmed it had studied an A340-600E ( Enhanced ) that was more fuel-efficient than earlier A340s, reducing the per-seat fuel consumption by 8–9% compared to

16368-655: The UK government, short of the £750 million originally requested. Funds from the French and West German governments followed thereafter. Airbus also issued subcontracts to companies in Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, South Korea, Portugal, the United States, and Yugoslavia . The A330 and A340 programmes were jointly launched on 5 June 1987, just prior to the Paris Air Show. The program cost

16544-512: The airline ended its flights to the United States on 25 October 2015. As of the end of 2019, 1,438 of its 22,054 employees were pilots. Thai Airways International was founded in 1960 as a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which held a 30 percent share of the new company valued at two million Thai baht , and Thailand's domestic carrier, Thai Airways Company ( Thai : เดินอากาศไทย ). SAS provided operational, managerial, and marketing expertise, with training aimed at building

16720-406: The airline is 410 billion baht in debt and 13,000 creditors. This include customers who simply bought tickets and not being refunded by Thai Airways. Most of those customers have waited for close to 2 years and still not being refunded although Thai Airways keeps selling new tickets. Its main creditors are the state-owned Krungthai and Government Savings Banks . The 50bn baht loan it had sought from

16896-605: The airline's CEO Tony Tyler, entailed a comprehensive network restructuring aimed at optimizing operational efficiency by ensuring flights were directed to destinations that would yield cost coverage and financial gain simultaneously. Aviation Week noted that rapid performance increases of twin-engine aircraft has led to the detriment of four-engine types of comparable capacity such as the A340 and 747; at this point most 747s had accumulated significant flying hours before retirement in contrast to A340s which were relatively young when grounded. By 2014, Singapore Airlines had phased out

17072-435: The airline's future, including aircraft fleet renewal and an upgrade of existing services. Thai placed orders for a number of aircraft, including the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 , and it launched a refurbishment of its Boeing 747 and 777 cabins. Mindful of rising fuel costs, the airline phased-out its most inefficient aircraft, including its Airbus A340-500s . The airline took delivery of its first Airbus A380 aircraft in

17248-477: The airport on 21 September. AirAsia and Thai AirAsia followed on 25 September and on 26 September Nok Air moved to Suvarnabhumi Airport. During this initial phase, as well as in the previous tests, the airport used the temporary IATA code NBK . Suvarnabhumi officially opened at 03:00 on 28 September 2006, taking over all flights from Don Mueang. The first flight to arrive was a Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8442 from Mumbai at 03:05. The first commercial arrival

17424-420: The airport to spend 33 million baht in 2013 building glass barriers to prevent people from falling and/or taking their lives. By mid-2015, the airport was handling more than 800 flights per day, higher than its 600-flight capacity. It has exceeded its capacity of 45 million passengers per year. Airports of Thailand (AOT) approved an investment budget for the expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport and construction

17600-458: The airport was minimal. Then Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont reopened Don Mueang for domestic flights voluntarily on 16 February 2007, with 71 weekly flights moved back initially, but no international flights. In January 2007, ruts were discovered in the runways at Suvarnabhumi. The east runway was scheduled to close for repairs. Expert opinions varied as to the cause of the ruts. Airport authorities and airline representatives maintained that

17776-561: The airport was ranked 58th by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2024. On 25 January 2007, due to work upgrading the taxiways which suffered from small cracks, a few incoming flights were delayed and several flights were safely diverted to U-Tapao International Airport in Rayong Province. On 26 November 2008, an illegal occupation of the airport took place by People's Alliance for Democracy , closing

17952-471: The airport was still safe and resisted suggestions that the airport should be completely closed and all flights moved back to Don Mueang. On 27 January 2007, the Department of Civil Aviation declined to renew the airport's safety certificate, which had expired the previous day. The ICAO requires that international airports hold aerodrome safety certificates, but Suvarnabhumi continued to operate because

18128-472: The airport with Hua Takhe railway station is provided by BMTA. The train service is currently not as popular as the bus service because it requires a shuttle bus connection. The service will be stopped when the Airport Express Link is completed. Northeast of the airport is Suvarnabhumi Public Transport Center, which is the airport's main bus terminal. Airbus A340 The Airbus A340

18304-551: The airport's parking area for an hour, blocking the building's entrances and seizing ticket booths to collect fares from motorists. Airport security personnel failed to respond, reportedly because of an internal dispute within the parking management company, the firm contracted to run the parking facilities. Costing an estimated 155 billion baht (US$ 5 billion), the airport has two parallel runways (60 m wide, 4,000 m and 3,700 m long) and two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals. It has

18480-698: The arrival hall. They belong to politically well connected criminal groups: Kamnan Samruay, Boonruang Srisang, Sak Pakphanang, the Pattaya Mafia and Phuyai Daeng. Evicting them has proved difficult as they allegedly are well connected. (The head of the Pirap gang is supposedly related to an Airports of Thailand executive, while the Phuyai Daeng has ties to influential civil servants in Samut Prakan . ) On 1 October 2010, two hundred armed men occupied

18656-660: The biggest changes with Aérospatiale starting construction of a new Fr. 2.5 billion ($ 411 million) assembly plant, adjacent to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport , in Colomiers . By November 1988, the first 21 m (69 ft) pillars were erected for the new Clément Ader assembly hall. The assembly process, meanwhile, would feature increased automation with holes for the wing-fuselage mating process drilled by eight robots. The use of automation for this particular process saved Airbus 20% on labour costs and 5% on time. British Aerospace accepted £450 million funding from

18832-481: The board. Three RTAF generals remain on the 2020 board; they have no experience running listed companies or restructuring loss-making airlines. Concomitantly, employees at Thai enjoyed an overprotected status. Salary increases based on length of employment led to senior captains earning more than the CEO. While celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2010, Thai, led by its president, Piyasvasti Amranand, drafted new plans for

19008-494: The capital of Thailand . Located mostly in Racha Thewa subdistrict, Bang Phli district , Samut Prakan province , it covers an area of 3,240 ha (32.4 km ; 8,000 acres), making it one of the biggest international airports in Southeast Asia and a regional hub for aviation. The airport is also a major Cargo Air Freight Hub (20th busiest in 2019), which has a designated Airport Free Zone, as well as road links to

19184-402: The carrier to continue flying to the EU for the foreseeable future. In July 2015, Thai announced the planned cancellation of service to Los Angeles after 25 October 2015, marking the end of US service. In June 2016, as a result of its restructuring plan, Thai announced it would commence thrice-weekly Tehran service. However, the service ended on 28 February 2018. The airline also considered

19360-493: The carrier to profitability. The team's "first task" is to deliver more tourists to 55 "second-tier" provinces. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will assist the team by creating a new campaign, "More Local", to drive tourism to less visited corners of the nation. AOT, which operates Thailand's six international airports, will invest 220 billion baht in infrastructure to increase airport capacity from 2018's 80 million passengers to 185 million in ten years. KTB's contribution to

19536-495: The commencement of 2014, Thai was subject to a rumor that the company would declare bankruptcy in May 2014. Listed on the Thai stock exchange, the company was formerly a state enterprise—until 22 May 2020—in which the finance ministry held a stake of up to 51 per cent. In a statement to the media, Chokchai Panyayong, the airways' senior executive vice-president and acting president, stated: "Thai has never once defaulted. Despite its loss in

19712-452: The company's second vice chairman as rehabilitation plan administrators, while the creditors will meet on 12 May 2021 to vote on the rehabilitation plan, and the court is expected to decide whether to endorse the plan between June and July 2021. On 15 June 2021, the Central Bankruptcy Court set the hearing to read out the court's order with regard to the consideration of THAI's Business Rehabilitation Plan. After receiving two objections against

19888-516: The continuation of its trijet heritage. Although from the start it was intended that the A340 would be powered by four CFM56 -5 turbofans, each capable of 25,000 pounds-force (110 kN), Airbus had also considered developing the aircraft as a trijet due to the limited power of engines available at the time, namely the Rolls-Royce RB211 -535 and Pratt & Whitney JT10D -232 (redesignated PW2000 in December 1980). As refinements in

20064-445: The cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than one percent of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70 percent of the problems would be fixed in 2007. Twenty of the 60 problems were successfully fixed by February 2007. Suvarnabhumi Airport's main terminal roof

20240-728: The cost of maintaining the RB211 engine powering Iberia's Boeing 757 freighters. Key to these programs is the salvaging, repair and reuse of serviceable parts from retired older engines. Airbus has positioned the larger versions of the A350 , specifically the A350-900 and A350-1000, as the successors to the A340-500 and A340-600. The ACJ340 is listed on the Airbus Corporate Jets website, as Airbus can convert retired A340 airliners to VIP transport configuration. The Airbus A340

20416-494: The deep resistance of any airlines to continue operating it". As a sales incentive amid low customer demand during the Great Recession , Airbus had offered buy-back guarantees to airlines that chose to procure the A340. By 2013, the resale value of an A340 declined by 30% over ten years, and both Airbus and Rolls-Royce were incurring related charges amounting to hundreds of millions of euros. Some analysts have expected

20592-448: The departure lounge and blocking exits and leaving almost 3,000 passengers stranded in the main terminal and another 350,000 stranded inside the country, as all flights were grounded. The People's Alliance for Democracy seized the control tower at 12:00. On 2 December 2008, protesters agreed to leave the airport as they had been illegally protesting and permitted the resumption of flights. Security checks, clean-ups, and re-certification once

20768-434: The development of a new open rotor engine . This test aircraft is forecast to conduct its first flight in 2019. Open rotor engines are typically more fuel-efficient but noisier than conventional turbofan engines; introducing such an engine commercially has been reported as requiring significant legislative changes within engine approval authorities due to its differences from contemporary jet engines. The engine, partly based on

20944-438: The earlier and smaller Airbus A310 . Improved engine control and monitoring improved time on wing. The centralised maintenance computer can transmit real-time information to ground facilities via the onboard satellite-based ACARS datalink. Heavy maintenance like structural changes remained unchanged, while cabin sophistications, like the in-flight entertainment , were increased over preceding airliners. The first variant of

21120-713: The effort consists of creating new payment solutions for tourists and ramping up travel promotions. Political interference, corruption and abuse of authority have been persistent issues in Thai's management. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, former president Piyasvasti Amranand , who had been abruptly dismissed in May 2012, cited Thai's procurement of A340-500s (three of which had since been grounded) as examples of mismanagement influenced by corruption and political meddling, resulting in operational losses. At an extraordinary board meeting held on 27 March 2020, Chakkrit Parapuntakul, Second Vice Chairman,

21296-418: The expansion of Thai's Asian network. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Thai Smile vowed to resume its suspended routes and Thai's terminated regional routes to Da Nang , Kota Kinabalu , Luang Prabang and Mandalay . Also the airline has considered launching new services to Hangzhou and Zhengzhou . Due to the financial complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , Thai Smile ceased operations in 2023 as

21472-554: The first of nine it planned to operate by the end of the year. Air France replaced its Boeing 747s with A340s on its Paris–Washington D.C. route, flying four times weekly. Lufthansa intended to replace aging DC-10s with the A340s on Frankfurt–New York services. On 16 June 1993, an A340-200 dubbed the World Ranger flew from the Paris Air Show to Auckland , New Zealand in 21 hours 32 minutes and back in 21 hours 46 minutes after

21648-399: The fleet in December 2003. In February 2004, the airline's A340-500 performed the longest non-stop commercial air service in the world, conducting a non-stop flight between Singapore and Los Angeles. In 2004, Singapore Airlines launched an even longer non-stop route using the A340-500 between Newark and Singapore , SQ 21 , a 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi; 9,534 mi) journey that was

21824-475: The following year. A number of the larger Douglas DC-10 wide-body tri-jets was acquired in the late-1970s. Services to North America commenced in 1980. On 1 April 1977, after 17 years of capital participation by SAS, the Thai government bought out the remaining 15 percent of SAS-owned shares and Thai became a state owned enterprise of the Thai government. As of 22 May 2020, the Thai Ministry of Finance

22000-482: The front and rear fuselage sections of the A310. Components were modular and also interchangeable with other Airbus aircraft where possible to reduce production, maintenance, and operating costs. Airbus briefly considered a variable camber wing ; the concept was that the wing could change its profile to produce the optimum shape for a given phase of flight. Studies were carried out by British Aerospace (BAe) at Hatfield and Bristol . Airbus estimated this would yield

22176-664: The government would have kept it afloat for only five months. An 80bn baht capital infusion would have been needed later. Thai Airways lost its state enterprise status on 22 May 2020 when the Finance Ministry sold off a 3.17% stake in Thai to the Vayupak 1 Fund, thus reducing its former majority shareholding to 47.86%. Thai has appealed to the government for help to forestall the seizure of its aircraft by foreign creditors. The airline sought government help because it has contracts and legal obligations that can only be resolved by

22352-436: The greatest depth at mid-span and over the supports. The result of Helmut Jahn 's vision is a structure with performance materials serve in their total composition and in use more than in their conventional roles. This maximizes daylight use in comfort with substantial energy life-cycle cost savings. The installed cooling system reduced up to 50 percent compared to a conventional system. A translucent membrane with three layers

22528-503: The illegal occupation ended delayed the airport from being fully functional until 5 December 2008. On 5 January 2019, the airport gained international attention when a Saudi Arabian ex- Muslim , Rahaf Mohammed , fleeing an abusive family that punished children who did not follow their religion, was accosted by Thai authorities at the behest of Saudi Arabia and sent to one of the airport's hotels to await repatriation back to her family and country. Fearing that she could be killed for being

22704-434: The initiative with experimental flights in December 2011 as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program, otherwise known as "Travel Green". Thai hopes to stimulate sustained biofuel production in Thailand by working with Thai government agencies and regional corporate partners, such as PTT Public Company Limited . The effort aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in regional air travel as well as position Thailand to be

22880-515: The investigation of the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal. Response from the Thai government's National Anti-Corruption Commission to information provided by the SFO, is said to be "tepid" and "...could be more embarrassing than the scandal itself." Suvarnabhumi Airport Suvarnabhumi International Airport ( IATA : BKK , ICAO : VTBS ) is the main international airport serving Bangkok ,

23056-463: The larger and less efficient 747. Airbus produced a number of A340s as large private jets for VIP customers, often to replace aging Boeing 747s in this same role. In 2008, Airbus launched a dedicated corporate jetliner version of the A340-200: one key selling point of this aircraft was a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km). Airbus had built up to nine different customized versions of

23232-477: The late-2000s, Thai's growth was hampered by a combination of internal and external factors, including a spike in fuel prices, domestic political conflict in Thailand, and the global economic crisis of the late-2000s . In 2008, after achieving profitability for the previous 40 years, Thai recorded a loss for the first time in its history of around 21 billion baht (US$ 675 million). The airline blamed high fuel costs and Thailand's political turmoil. As of Q2 2009, after

23408-439: The longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight in the world. The airline continued to operate this route regularly until the airline decided to retire the type in favour of new A380 and A350 aircraft; its last A340 flight was performed in late 2013. The A340 was typically used by airlines as a medium-sized long-haul aircraft and was often a replacement for older Boeing 747s as it was more likely to be profitable compared to

23584-528: The military government of Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn and the project was shelved. "The Japanese government would end up assisting the new airport project as ODA, and in 1996, the project took a step forward with the signing of a loan agreement between the Government of Thailand and the Japanese government. Then, in 1996, Second Bangkok International Airport Company Ltd. (SBIA) was established as

23760-576: The old Don Mueang International Airport has now been reopened for civil aviation under a dual-airport policy. Meanwhile, SRT provides a suburban commuter train service between Lad Krabang (the nearest station to Suvarnabhumi on the East line, one station from the airport by Airport Rail Link ) and the northern suburban city of Rangsit via downtown Bangkok and the old Don Mueang Airport. The train also connects with BTS and MRT at Phaya Thai and Phetchaburi stations respectively. A shuttle bus service linking

23936-428: The opening of a Pandora's Box , which will expose extensive corruption in the ailing national flag carrier which has hitherto been hidden from the public." On September 14, 2020, the Central Bankruptcy Court has given approval for THAI to enter rehabilitation. THAI has submitted the rehabilitation plan on 2 March 2021. The airline nominated the airline's independent director Piyasvasti Amranand and Chakkrit Parapuntakul,

24112-571: The overall airport enlargement that would see Suvarnabhumi raise its annual passenger handling capacity to 125 million passengers, 90 million international and 35 million domestic passengers by 2024 at an estimated cost of 163 billion baht (US$ 5.25 billion/€3.62 billion). The expansion includes the construction of one additional runway of 3,700 metres (12,100 ft), subsequent enlargement of domestic and international terminals, and improvements to parking bays, car parks, and other airport infrastructure. In March 2024 Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said

24288-413: The previous year. Thai blamed declining tourist arrivals from North Asia owing to political unrest in Thailand during the year, but capacity figures from Flightglobal's Innovata Network Data service suggest that Europe was probably an even bigger drain on the bottom line during the year. Thai's new management team has set itself the goal of returning to "sustainable profitability" by 2022 as well as joining

24464-436: The price of a flight-worthy, CFM56-powered A340 to drop below $ 10 million by 2023. Airbus could offer used A340s to airlines wishing to retire older aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, claiming that the cost of purchasing and maintaining a second-hand A340 with increased seating and improved engine performance reportedly compared favourably to the procurement costs of a new Boeing 777 . In 2013, as ultra-long range

24640-458: The project implementation organization, and the project got underway." It was scheduled to finish by 2000. The airport was due to open in late 2004. Still, a series of budget overruns , construction flaws, and allegations of corruption plagued the project. A further delay was caused by the discovery that the airport had been built over an old graveyard. Superstitious construction workers claimed to have seen ghosts there. On 23 September 2005,

24816-411: The projected end of production. In 2011, the unit cost of an A340-300 was US$ 238.0M ($ 322.4M today), US$ 261.8M for an A340-500 ($ 354.6M today) and US$ 275.4M for an A340-600 ($ 373M today). On 10 November 2011, Airbus announced the end of the A340 program. At that time, the company indicated that all firm orders had been delivered. The decision to terminate the program came as A340-500/600 orders came to

24992-624: The ranks of the world's top five airlines. The centerpiece of its turnaround plan is its proposed 100 billion baht purchase of 23 new aircraft. THAI's chairman pointed to its aging fleet as being expensive to maintain. THAI's 89 aircraft have an average age of 9.3 years compared with competitor Singapore Airlines average age of 7.6 years. Thai's chairman said the company has not yet determined "...what aircraft and type we need to buy because we have yet to finalize financing." Thai's recovery plans include teaming up with state enterprises Airports of Thailand PCL (AOT) and Krung Thai Bank (KTB) to help drive

25168-596: The reconfigured company listed its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and offered them to the public. The Thai public offering of shares is the largest ever undertaken in the country. In 1997 Thai Airways planned a privatization program, the first in Thai history. On 14 May 1997, THAI, along with Lufthansa , Air Canada , SAS , and United Airlines , founded the world's first and largest airline alliance , Star Alliance. The genesis of Thai's later financial difficulties has been attributed to actions taken in

25344-609: The region, THAI launched a regional carrier with light-premium services, Thai Smile , which operates the narrow-bodied Airbus A320-200 on regional and domestic routes. The new airline began commercial operations in July 2012, after its first A320s were received. As of September 2020, Thai Smile files to 31 destinations and a fleet of 20 aircraft with Chiang Mai International Airport being its focus city . By September 2016, Thai Smile , Thai's subsidiary announced new services to Gaya , Varanasi , Jaipur , and Lucknow in India marking

25520-412: The runways average 63 flights per hour. In April 2019 the Thai cabinet approved a sum of 21.8 billion baht for the construction of a third runway. Construction was originally planned to start in 2019 and be completed in 2021. The third runway will accommodate a maximum of 30 flights per hour. After delays, the third runway is expected to open at the end of 2024. The main passenger terminal building, with

25696-462: The seats. The service to Los Angeles was again reverted to one-stop service via Seoul on 1 May 2012, leaving the airline without a non-stop service between Thailand and North America. The A340s used were phased out, replaced by the Boeing 777-200ER for the Bangkok – Seoul – Los-Angeles route. Although the previous A340 used for non-stop services was not subject to ETOPS , the phasing in of

25872-564: The second half of 2012, intending to eventually deploy the aircraft on its core European routes. THAI resumed network expansion with the resumption of flights to Brussels , in addition to a new non-stop flight from Stockholm and Copenhagen to Phuket . At the same time, the Greek debt crisis caused Thai to suspend its services to Athens . Thai expects to be the first carrier in Asia to fly commercial flights using biofuels . The carrier launched

26048-424: The smaller 14,800 km (9,200 mi; 8,000 nmi) range A340-200. At least $ 1 billion would be needed to develop the airframe, excluding the $ 2 billion required for engine development supported by the engine manufacturer. A 12 frame −400 simple stretch would cover 11,290 km (6,100 nmi; 7,020 mi) with 340 passengers in a three-class configuration. It was enlarged by 40% to compete with

26224-503: The state. These issues must be dealt with before Thai enters debt rehabilitation. Concurrently, investigators are looking into anomalies in Thai ticket sales in 2019. The Transport Ministry reported that Thai ticket sales and freight revenues totalled 140bn baht in 2019, yet Thai had 25.4m passengers at an average ticket price of 6,081 baht, a total of 154.5bn baht. A senior prosecutor, Wanchai Roujanavong, had earlier warned that, "...the proposed rehabilitation of Thai Airways International [is]

26400-501: The subsidiary after the airline released a new policy of not serving food outside meal service times, Puff and Pie Bakery House was established and its first branch opened on 19 November 1997 near Don Mueang Airport with an aim to increase revenue for the airline. A total of 19 Puff and Pie Branches can be found in Bangkok, primarily found in government offices and hospitals, providing bakery items and microwaveable meals from Thai Catering. In 2021, Puff and Pie cooperated with Inthanin Coffee,

26576-461: The tail fin shows the traditional Thai greeting gesture (wai), and the curves represents traditional Thai architecture of the decorative structure called lamyong that are common on temple roofs to distinguish different tiers in the structure. The gold represents the colour of Thai Temples , while the magenta signifies magnolia blossom, where finally the purple represents the Thai Orchid -

26752-443: The then in-development 777-300ER/200LR: the wing would be expanded with a tapered wing box insert along the span extension, it would have enlarged horizontal stabilizers and the larger A330-200 fin and it would need 222–267 kN (50–60,000 lbf) of unit thrust. The ultra-long-haul 1.53 m (5.0 ft) -500 stretch would seat 316 passengers, a little more than the −300, over 15,355 km (8,290 nmi; 9,540 mi), while

26928-405: The third quarter of last year, the company still has high liquidity and has a clear plan for debt repayment." He further explained that the carrier's loss of 6.35 billion baht in the third quarter of last year was the result of the company's unsuccessful plan to attract more customers. Thai's financial loss for 2014 was reported to be at 15.6 billion baht (US$ 479 million), 3.6 billion baht higher than

27104-486: The third runway would open in October 2024, with a long-term target capacity of 150 million passengers. The runway was opened for full aircraft operations on 1 November 2024, increasing the operational capacity from 68 to 94 flights/hour. A new midfield concourse called SAT-1 partially opened in September 2023 and is expected to fully open from early 2024. It is linked to the current main terminal via an underground automated people mover (APM) system. The new people mover

27280-576: The time being. Nok Air and PBair were undecided, but Nok Air later relocated all flights to Don Mueang, where they operate today. As of January 2010, only Nok Air and One-Two-GO operated domestic flights from Don Mueang Airport. PBair have ceased operations altogether. One-Two-GO was integrated into Orient Thai Airlines in July 2010, but continues to operate from Don Mueang Airport. As of 1 October 2012, Air Asia has moved all of its Bangkok operations to Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Airports of Thailand found that

27456-585: The two would share the same wing and airframe ; the projected savings were estimated at US$ 500 million (about £490 million or €495 million). The adoption of a common wing structure also had one technical advantage: the TA11's outboard engines could counteract the weight of the longer-range model by providing bending relief. Another factor was the split preference of those within Airbus and, more importantly, prospective airliner customers. Airbus vice president for strategic planning, Adam Brown, recalled, North American operators were clearly in favour of

27632-411: The type's overall operating cost. Lufthansa , which operates both Airbus A340-300s and −600s, concluded that, while it is not possible to make the A340 more fuel efficient, it can respond to increased interest in business-class services by replacing first-class seats with more business-class seats to increase revenue. In 2013, Snecma announced that they planned to use the A340 as a flying testbed for

27808-427: The type, discontinuing SQ21 and SQ22 , which had been the longest non-stop scheduled flights in the world. Emirates Airlines decided to accelerate the retirement of its A340 fleet, writing down the value of the A340-500 type to zero despite the oldest −500 only being 10 years old, with president Tim Clark saying they were "designed in the late 1990s with fuel at $ 25–30. They fell over at $ 60 and at $ 120 they haven't got

27984-400: The world's tallest free-standing control tower (132.2 metres or 434 feet) from 2006 to 2014 and the world's fourth largest single-building airport terminal (563,000 square metres or 6,060,000 square feet). Suvarnabhumi is the 17th busiest airport in the world , eleventh busiest airport in Asia , and the busiest in the country , having handled 60 million passengers in 2017, and is also

28160-417: The worsening financial situation." Thai reported a net loss of 4.68 billion baht in the third quarter of 2019 and a 10.91 billion baht net loss for the first nine months of 2019. Thai's president lamented that, "...such losses were normal for airlines amid fierce competition and price dumping to win customers," a statement contradicted by the performance of other airlines in the region such as VietJet Air . At

28336-493: The wrong information, resulting in confused passengers (especially as unlike Don Mueang, there were no "final calls" issued). Months after its opening, issues of congestion, construction quality, signage, provision of facilities, and soil subsidence continued to plague the project, prompting calls to reopen Don Mueang to allow for repairs to be made. Expert opinions varied widely on the extent of Suvarnabhumi's problems as well as their root cause. Most airlines stated that damage to

28512-517: The −600. This model would become more competitive with the Boeing 777-300ER by utilizing new Trent 1500 engines and technologies from the A350 initial design. At 380 passengers, the advertised three-class seating of the −600 was well above the real world average of 323 seats, while the B777-300ER is advertised for 365 and offers 332, impacting seat costs . By 2018, a 2006 -600 was worth $ 18M and

28688-412: Was Japan Airlines at 03:30. The first passenger arrival was Aerosvit flight VV171 from Kyiv at 04:30, and the first cargo departure was Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV-984 to Riyadh at 05:00. Aerosvit also had the first passenger departure (VV172 to Kyiv) around 05:30. Difficulties were reported in the first few days of the airport's operation. On the first day alone, sluggish luggage handling

28864-485: Was $ 3.5 billion with the A330, in 2001 dollars. The order book then stood at 130 aircraft from 10 customers, apart from the above-mentioned Lufthansa and International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Eighty-nine of the total orders were A340 models. At McDonnell Douglas, ongoing tests of the MD-11 revealed a significant shortfall in the aircraft's performance. An important carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA), required

29040-569: Was an early adopter of the A340; in addition to operating several A340-300 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic announced in August 1997 that it was to be the worldwide launch customer for the new A340-600. The first commercial flight of the A340-600 was performed by Virgin in July 2002. Singapore Airlines ordered 17 A340-300s and operated them until October 2003. Those A340-300s were purchased by Boeing as part of an order for Boeing 777s in 1999. The airline then purchased five long-range A340-500s, which joined

29216-399: Was announced at UNESCO . Suvarnabhumi accounted for the largest share of air traffic at Thailand's airports in 2023, handling 51.7 million passengers in 2023, up by 80 percent from the previous year despite its passenger capacity of only 45 million a year. The 30 billion baht Suvarnabhumi Airport Link was opened on 23 August 2010, after multiple delays. The Airport Rail Link (ARL)

29392-519: Was appointed as acting president of Thai Airways effective 11 April 2020. The Thai government stepped in to provide THAI with a 50bn baht loan guarantee in April 2020 and reaffirmed the airline's status as a state enterprise . The move was taken in the absence of a "get well" plan. A week later, the bailout loan was withdrawn and the cabinet replaced it with a plan to have Thai file with the Central Bankruptcy Court for debt restructuring . As of March 2021,

29568-426: Was common—the first passenger arrival by Aerosvit took an hour for the luggage to start coming out, and some flights did not have their luggage coming out even after four hours. Flights were delayed (Thai Airways claimed that 17 of 19 flights were delayed that day), and there were failures with the check-in system. Subsequent problems included the failure of the cargo computer system, and the departure boards displaying

29744-458: Was developed to mediate between the interior and exterior climate, dealing with noise and temperature transmission, while still allowing natural flow of daylight into building along with views of greenery outside. The airport was ranked number 48 among the world's top 100 airports in 2020. Other ASEAN airports in 2020 were ranked: Changi Airport , 1; Kuala Lumpur International Airport , 63; Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta , 35; Hanoi , 87. Suvarnabhumi

29920-437: Was expected to be completed by April 2023. The plan was to strengthen Suvarnabhumi Airport's position as a regional aviation hub. Phase Two would raise the airport's capacity to 65 million passengers a year and would be undertaken in parallel with the construction of a new domestic terminal. The new domestic terminal will be intended to accommodate more than 30 million passengers annually. The two expansion projects are part of

30096-423: Was obtained on 22 December 1992; the FAA followed on 27 May 1993. In 1992, unit cost of an A340-200 was US$ 105M and US$ 110M for an A340-300. (equivalent to $ 205 million in 2023 dollars). The first A340, a −200, was delivered to Lufthansa on 2 February 1993 and entered service on 15 March. The 228-seat airliner was named Nürnberg . The first A340-300, the 1000th Airbus, was delivered to Air France on 26 February,

30272-602: Was provided by Siemens using the NeoVAL technology. The new satellite terminal has a total of 28 gates, with eight for the Airbus A380 and Boeing B747-800 super jumbo jet. Spanning around 251,400 square meters, it will increase the airport's annual passenger handling capacity from 45 million to 60 million. The SAT-1 terminal was nominated as one of six airport terminals for the Prix Versailles World's Most Beautiful Airports Architectural Award for 2024, which

30448-527: Was ranked 46 in 2019, 38 in 2017 and 36 in 2016. According to the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) in 2018, the airport's ranking had not improved over the past six years. Customer complaints included lengthy immigration waiting times, transit day room issues, insufficient numbers of chairs and phone charging points, insufficient English-speaking staff, and poor information displays. As of 18 April 2024,

30624-468: Was stretched to 75.4 m (247 ft), then the longest airliner, to accommodate 320–370 passengers over 14,450 km (7,800 nmi; 8,980 mi). As improving engine reliability allowed ETOPS operations for almost all routes, more economical twinjets have replaced quadjets on many routes. On 10 November 2011, Airbus announced that the production reached its end, after 380 orders had been placed and 377 delivered from Toulouse , France. The A350

30800-514: Was the first Asia-Pacific airline to serve Heathrow Airport . Among Asia-Pacific carriers, the company has one of the largest passenger operations in Europe serving 11 airports. As of 2024, the longest route THAI operates is the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) (9,576 km [5,950 mi]). As of 2013, services between Bangkok and Los Angeles were served via Incheon International Airport near Seoul until

30976-495: Was then set to develop a new engine for $ 1–1.5 billion that generated a thrust rating between the 150 kN (34,000 lbf) CFM56 and the 315–400 kN (70–90,000 lbf) GE90. In 1994, Airbus was studying a heavier A340 Advanced with a reinforced wing and a selection of 178 kN (40,000 lbf) engines; these included the Pratt & Whitney advanced ducted propulsor, CFM International CFMXX or Rolls-Royce RB411, to

#517482