Report, images by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Image : Researcher's Picture
According to Thai media, Thai Smile Airways (or Thai Smile), a domestic subsidiary of Thai Airways established in 2011, ceases operations on 31 December 2023 due to business restructuring. The airline has been in a state of loss all year round, and Thai Airways has long wanted to merge it.
On 1 December 2023, the CEO of Thai Airways stated that the Thai Smile Airways fleet consists of 20 A320 aircraft and will be merged into Thai Airways.
Image : Researcher's Picture
Thai Airways will continue to operate 9 domestic routes under the TG flight code, taking over from Thai Smile Airways.
Seats and services that passengers have reserved will be transferred to Thai Airways from 16 December 2023. The Smile Airways website will continue to be in service until 15 December 2023, and the ticket service center/call center will operate until 31 December 2023.
After 31 December 2023, all services of Thai Smile will be taken over by Thai Airways, and its employees will also be transferred to another company internally.
Currently, 4 aircraft have completed the handover work, and the entire integration process is expected to be completed in January 2024.
Once all 20 aircraft are handed over, Thai Smile Airways' operating license will also be cancelled. This also means that Thai Smile’s original code WE will be terminated.
The restructuring plan will reduce Thai Airways' average daily aircraft usage time from 12-13 hours to 11 hours.
Although this figure is still higher than Thai Smile's average daily aircraft usage (9 hours), the change will reduce Thai Airways' hourly operating costs by approximately 20%.
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