Dear fans and followers,
today is your lucky day as you are watching a nolde10 Trip Report. :-)
Today I will take you on an unforgettable journey onboard the THAI Airways Airbus A380 - the legendary doubledecker plane. We will be flying from Frankfurt Rhein Main Airport to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International. Both are large Star Alliance hubs and the latter is also the home base of THAI Airways.
You will be able to see the entire journey from the transfer to boarding. From take-off to landing. Please do feel free to leave a comment and a thumb up! :-)
For more information on THAI Airways, please refer below.
Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
Cheeers,
nolde10
Thai Airways International Public Co., ltd., trading as THAI is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1988, the airline has its corporate headquarters in Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak District, Bangkok, and primarily operates from Suvarnabhumi Airport. THAI is a founding member of the Star Alliance. The airline is the second-largest shareholder of the low-cost carrier Nok Air with a 21.80 per cent stake, and it launched a regional carrier under the name Thai Smile in the middle of 2012 using new Airbus A320 aircraft.
From its hub at Suvarnabhumi Airport and secondary hub at Phuket International Airport, Thai (including subsidiaries) flies to 84 destinations in 37 countries, using a fleet of over 90 aircraft. The airline was once the operator of two of the world's longest non-stop routes between Bangkok and Los Angeles and New York City, but due to high fuel prices, the withdrawal of aircraft, luggage weight limits and rising airfares, the airline abandoned all non-stop US services in 2012 indefinitely. As of 2013, services between Bangkok and Los Angeles were served via Incheon International Airport near Seoul, however, it ended its service to the US on 25 October 2015. Thai's route network is dominated by flights to Europe, East Asia, and South/Southwest Asia, though the airline serves five cities in Oceania. Thai was the first Asia-Pacific airline to serve London Heathrow Airport. Among Asia-Pacific carriers, the company has one of the largest passenger operations in Europe. As of the end of 2018, 1,438 of its 22,054 employees were pilots.
THAI's fleet development plans, as of December 2011, for the period 2012-2022 is in three phases:
2012: Phase-out of 11 aging aircraft, delivery of 12 government-approved aircraft.
2013-2017: Phase out of 35 aging aircraft, delivery of 11 aircraft that have already been approved, and acquisition of 33 new aircraft, including 26 next-generation wide-bodied aircraft and 20 Airbus A320s.
2018-2022: Phase out some Boeing 747-400s and some Boeing 777s and acquisition of 15 next-generation wide-bodied aircraft to replace them. Two Boeing 747-400s (HS-TGF and HS-TGG) to remain in service.
On 13 June 2011, Thai's Board of Directors announced it would purchase 15 aircraft and acquire the remaining 22 on operating leases. The purchased planes include 14 Boeing 777-300ERs, to be delivered in 2014 and 2015, four Airbus A350-900s (2016 and 2017). The leased planes include six 787-8s and two 787-9s from US lessor International Lease Finance (ILFC). The 8 series will be delivered in 2014 and 2015, while the 9 series will be delivered in 2017. In addition, Thai will lease six A350-900s from Aviation Lease and Finance, to be delivered in 2017, and two A350-900s from CIT Aerospace International, which will deliver the aircraft in 2016. The airline will also lease six A320-200s from RBS Aerospace International, to be delivered in 2012 and 2013. All the operating leases have terms of 12 years each.
On 20 January 2016 Thai Airways International PCL announced plans to postpone taking delivery of 14 planes for three years to reduce operating costs as the national airline restructured. The 14 planes include 12 Airbus A350s, two of which were due to be delivered in 2016, and two Boeing 787s.
On 12 February 2016 Thai Airways announced it will continue to ground 10 Airbus A340s it had not been able to sell because flying the four-engine planes is not cost-effective, even after fuel prices plunged more than 40 per cent in the previous year. Besides trying to offload the planes, which were used previously for long-haul destinations such as Frankfurt, the money-losing airline has cut routes and sold assets to bolster its balance sheet and operations.
In 2017, Thai took delivery of seven new aircraft and decommissioned two leased Airbus A330-300s bringing its active fleet to 100 as of 31 December 2017.