Thai Airways International (THAI) is expected to exit the court sanctioned rehabilitation plan three months ahead of schedule, in the middle of next year, as the airline’s performance has been improving steadily, in line with tourism recovery, according to CEO Chai Eamsiri.
THAI and its subsidiary, Thai Smile Airways, have made money four quarters in a row, with pre-tax profits for the second quarter of this year amounting to 2.3 billion baht, which is an increase of 171% over the same period last year and the largest in 20 years.
The airline will have been run under the rehabilitation plan for about three years by the middle of 2024, to settle its accumulated losses of about 240 billion baht.
Chai said the company will seek registration on the stock market, so its shares can be publically traded on the Thai bourse, tentatively in March 2025.
THAI’s cash current account is estimated at about 50 billion baht, making it possible for the airline to service its huge debt and interest by an average of 10 billion baht per annum beginning next year, with the expectation that it will have settled all the debts by the end of 2031.
Chai said he does not foresee major impacts from the current political situation, saying that the airline is ready to push for investment in the aviation maintenance centre at U-Tapao, worth about 7 billion baht.