Thai Airways Achieves 10.7% Revenue Growth in Q1 of 2024 Due to Expanded Flight Operations

Saturday, May 11, 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) and its subsidiaries achieved a total revenue of 45,955 million baht, marking a 10.7% increase from the previous year’s 41,507 million baht. This growth was primarily driven by a significant rise in passenger revenue due to the resumption and increase of flight frequencies on popular routes to Europe, Australia, and Japan.

The total expenses for THAI and its subsidiaries were 34,880 million baht, up 22.5% from the previous year’s 28,473 million baht. This increase was attributed to higher costs in production, traffic, the number of flights and routes, passenger numbers, Baht depreciation, ground service fees, and raw material prices, resulting in elevated expenses across passenger handling, flight services, and aircraft and spare part maintenance. Operating profit, before financial costs and excluding one-time items, was reported at 11,075 million baht, a 15.0% decrease from the 13,034 million baht in Q1/2023.

Financial costs, under Financial Reporting Standard No. 9 (TFRS 9), amounted to 4,608 million baht. One-time expenses totaled 4,036 million baht, primarily from a foreign exchange loss of 5,372 million baht and impairment losses on aircraft, right-of-use assets, and rotable aircraft spare parts totaling 3,338 million baht, offset by a gain on debt restructuring of 493 million baht and profits from investments totaling 36 million baht. As a result, THAI and its subsidiaries recorded a net profit of 2,423 million baht, with EBITDA after aircraft lease payments at 14,000 million baht, nearly steady from the previous year’s 14,054 million baht.

By the end of Q1/2024, THAI had increased its fleet to 73 active aircraft, all Airbus A350-900s, and boosted the average aircraft utilization to 12.8 hours per day. Passenger production (ASK) and traffic (RPK) both rose by 10.1%, maintaining an average cabin factor of 83.5%, above the industry average of 80.8%. Passenger numbers climbed by 10.2% to 3.88 million.

Passenger revenue reached 38,517 million baht, with general passenger revenue accounting for 38,387 million baht and local government passenger revenue at 130 million baht. Revenue distribution included 34.5% from Europe, 32.8% from the Northern region, 11.9% from Western and Middle East regions, 7.2% from Australia, 7.7% from Indochina and the Southern region, and 5.9% from domestic routes.

Total assets increased by 7.6% to 257,110 million baht, while total liabilities rose by 5.6% to 297,829 million baht. Shareholders’ equity was negative at -40,719 million baht, down 2,423 million baht from the end of 2023. THAI’s liquidity, including cash, bills of exchange, time deposits, and debentures maturing within three to twelve months, increased to 72,725 million baht.

THAI has optimized its flight slot management to meet rising passenger demand and improved route connectivity while reducing non-operated routes. It has also enhanced customer experiences by upgrading cabin facilities and seats since Q1/2024, with completion expected by Q2/2024. Furthermore, on May 1, 2024, THAI launched a new version of the “Thai Airways” mobile app, offering enhanced travel service management and access to Royal Orchid Plus (ROP) services.

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