Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) president Sumeth Damrongchaitham denied reports of a liquidity crunch on October 4 and assured that the loss-making flag carrier was operating as normal, that its cash flow was sound, and that it was adhering strictly to its debt management plan, local media have reported. He said it had cut debts by THB48 billion baht (USD1.58 billion).
He was responding to speculation in the media following concerns about Thai Airways expressed the day before by the country's deputy transport minister, Thaworn Senneam.
According to Thaworn, the airline had reported a loss of over THB6 billion (USD197 million) for the first half of this year. He feared that full-year net losses could spill over the THB10 billion (USD329 million) mark.
The deputy minister said he had scheduled a meeting with the airline’s management for October 10 to seek ways out of its spiral of accumulating losses and to tighten the rehabilitation plan, which he believed was not working. He added that Thai Airways would have to revise the plan within three months.
In September, Thai Airways was asked to review plans to procure 38 more aircraft worth a combined THB156 billion baht (USD5.1 billion).
Damrongchaitham argued on October 4 that the airline regularly informed the Ministry of Finance and the Public Debt Management Office about its financial condition and that neither had expressed any concerns.
He said that the carrier had requested a loan for THB32 billion (USD1 billion) for the 2020 fiscal year, which was related to investment and working capital and not to the aircraft procurement plan.
