News
Thai Airways to submit open skies complaints
August 16th 2019
President Sumeth says the carrier is unable to secure market access. Read More »
Thai Airways International (THAI) president, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, will submit open skies complaints to Thailand’s Transport Ministry and other government authorities, the Bangkok Post has reported.
Sumeth said several countries did not reciprocate with Thailand in facilitating market access. The countries were not named and Sumeth did not provide details or background to the complaint.
However, he said the open skies policies, combined with low-cost airline growth, had forced THAI to withdraw flights to Japan and other unnamed markets.
Thailand-Japan flights have expanded, but mostly from home-grown competitors Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot. Japanese LCC Peach Aviation entered Okinawa Naha-Bangkok in 2017 with an A320. Zip Air Tokyo plans to fly Tokyo-Bangkok next year. There is upside for THAI, too: THAI intends to start Bangkok-Sendai in October. Sendai will be THAI’s sixth destination in Japan.
The Bangkok Post cited a source who said LCC growth in Thailand from Japan and Korea has made THAI uncompetitive. The connection to open skies complaints is unclear.
Sumeth, who has been in the job for 11 months, said: “there had never been a day without a problem.”
