BANGKOK, Oct 6 -The first of Thai Airways International (THAI)’s Airbus A380-800 jetliners inaugurated the first commercial services on Saturday with a flight to Hong Kong.
Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan has presided over the ceremony with the inaugural flight TG 600 Bangkok-Hong Kong. He said passengers have given good response to the new aircraft as the 507 seats were fully booked and reservations to fly on the Airbus A380-800 were in high demand.
Chokchai Panyayong, THAI Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Development Department, said that seats for Airbus A380-800 flight to Hong Kong in October were around 75-80 percent booked while flight to Singapore were around 60-65 percent reserved.
The first of THAI’s six Airbus A380-800 jetliners has been delivered to the national flag carrier on September 29 from the Airbus assembly plant in Toulouse, France. The aircraft was named “Sri Rattana” by HM the King.
THAI is the ninth airline to receive what is billed as the world’s largest and most eco-efficient aircraft.
THAI entered the aircraft into service on October 6 for the Bangkok-Hong Kong and Bangkok-Singapore routes. After the second Airbus A380-800 aircraft is delivered in November, the two aircraft will be used for the Bangkok-Frankfurt and Bangkok-Hong Kong routes from mid December.
In January 2013, when the third aircraft is delivered, the service will expand to include Bangkok-Narita Japan, and the fourth aircraft will service the Bangkok-Paris route starting next February. The remaining two aircraft will be delivered late next year.
The THAI version of the Airbus A380-800 offers a total of 507 seats in three classes – 12 seats in Royal First Class, 60 seats in Royal Silk Class (Business Class) and 435 seats in Economy Class.
