BANGKOK, March 1 – Thai Airways International (THAI), Thailand’s national flag carrier, today announced a net profit of over Bt6 billion for last year’s operations – a sharp turnaround from 2011 when the company suffered a Bt10.2 billion loss.
THAI Board of Directors president Ampon Kitti-ampon said the airline’s net profit last year was Bt6.23 billion while the combined profit of the flag carrier and its subsidiaries, Nok Air and Thai Smile, reached Bt6.51 billion.
He said the international aviation business overall had improved last year despite a global economic slowdown and tough competition, domestically and internationally.
THAI’s operations were severely affected by the massive floods in late 2011, compelling it to adversely adjust its marketing strategy by offering tickets at lower prices to stimulate passengers to fly with THAI, Mr Ampon said.
He said the national airline boosted its competitive edge last year with ownership of more shares at Nok Air and launching a new budget airline, Thai Smile, to expand and strengthen the corporation’s aviation network while flight schedules had been seasonally adjusted.
The airline made an impressive passenger load factor (PLF) in 2012 – the highest in five years – at an average utilisation of 76.6 per cent, representing an increase from 70.4 per cent in the preceding year. PLF is a measure to calculate the average occupancy on various routes of an airline.
Of THAI’s Bt213.53 billion revenue last year, Bt8.248 billion was from Nok Air’s operations, Bt1.584 billion from profit in purchasing the Nok Air business, and Bt10.042 billion from operating revenue.
THAI, a listed company in Thailand’s stock exchange, reported total assets of Bt304.096 billion as of Dec 31, an increase by Bt30.14 billion from 2011, and liabilities at Bt234.278 billion, an increase by Bt23.269 billion.
Mr Ampon said THAI’s operating performance in January was satisfactory with 1.89 million passengers, an increase of 0.14 million passengers, or 8.1 per cent, from January 2011.
The Board of Directors approved the management’s proposal to recruit a new batch of 247 flight attendants this year.
