Thai Airways International president Charamporn Jotikasthira clarified on Wednesday that the price quoted by the airline to the office of the prime minister’s secretary-general for chartered flight service for General Prawit Wongsuwan’s delegation to Hawaii was just an estimated price between government agencies and the actual price would be quoted by the airline once the trip was completed.
As for the on-board catering for the delegation, he disclosed that THAI proposed menus to the delegation to choose before the trip to Hawaii in line with the airline’s premium-grade service standard.
Food was arranged with flying times taken into consideration – 12.30 hours for the Bangkok-Hawaii flight and 12.45 hours for the return flight. There were altogether four main meals plus snacks throughout the journey and food reserves in case the flights did not go in accordance with plan, explained Mr Charamporn.
THAI chose wide-bodied Boeing 747-400 aircraft because the plane could fly across continents to destinations without the need of refueling mid-way, he said, adding that THAI has several of this type of planes and the deployment of one of them to serve the delegation did not affect the airline’s services.
He went on saying there were 38 passengers on the flight to Hawaii and 41 on the return flight.
Charamporn said THAI was ready to cooperate with the Office of the Auditor-General in the investigation. As a state enterprise and a listed company in the stock market, he insisted that THAI has strictly observed transparency and is open to scrutiny.
