Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has been forced to once more delay deploying its growing A350-900 fleet on international flights following complications with the aircraft's type certification with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
Thai took delivery of its first A350, HS-THB (cn 44), in late August with plans to use the aircraft on flights from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Melbourne Tullamarine, Australia from the middle of September onwards before delaying that date to early October.
However, according to The Bangkok Post, sources familiar with the matter indicate CASA officials have withheld giving the A350 the greenlight given their "unfamiliarity" with the aircraft, especially on issues related to airworthiness. Thai is now planing to instead use the aircraft on key routes from Bangkok to Europe and will continue to serve Melbourne with B747-400s, B777-200s and B777-300(ER)s.
As it stands, the Australians have given Thai no provisional date as to when they can begin planning to start flights.
It should be noted, however, that Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi), Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International), and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) already employ the type, or are in the process of doing so, on their own respective commercial services to Australia.
Given the current status-quo, Thai is using currently its two A350s to serve the local cities of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.
