Thai Airways International expects to report net profit of Bt700 million this year, which is below its previous projections.
However, the national carrier is satisfied with its result at a time of uncertain outlook for the aviation industry.
Early this year, it had projected earnings of Bt6 billion but cut the figure by half to Bt3 billion midyear.
Last year, THAI posted a Bt10-billion loss.
THAI president Sorajak Kasemsuvan said, however, that the business outlook remained good for next year. In the last quarter of this year, its cabin factor has been 76 per cent, better than the expected 75 per cent.
The firm attributed its growth to the high cabin factor in the final quarter of this year, driven by the good performance of Thai tourism. Also, the new Bangkok-Sapporo route has seen more than 80-per-cent booking.
Between December 28 and January 3, the airline will add 26 flights to serve the rising demand for travel during the New Year season, carrying more than 7,000 passengers. They comprise 20 flights to provinces at home and six to cities in Japan, taking off from Bangkok.
In November, the number of passengers increased 39.6 per cent year on year to 1.87 million, while cabin factor was 76.7 per cent, up from 61 per cent during the same month last year. Thai Smile's cabin factor averaged 84.2 per cent.
Sorajak will today discuss with the company's board next year's business strategy.
Also, he will map out his own plan before proposing it to the board by the end of this month. He insisted that the company would maintain its sales target of growing at least 12 per cent to Bt200 billion in 2013.
In addition, next year the firm will put more focus on improving the seating quality of 12 A330-300 aircraft, which are 14 years old, to the same standard as the whole fleet.
The proposal will be put to the company's board next month, which will include study results and budget details.
Currently, THAI has 91 aircraft in its fleet, with an average age of 10 years. It intends to reduce the average age to eight years in 2017 by adding new aircraft.
Under the plan, the firm will purchase 75 new aircraft; 37 have already been approved for purchase, while for the remaining 38, it will reconsider the purchase plan.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/15/thai-airways-expects-to-earn-bt700m-in-profits-this-year/
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