Thai Airways loses $274.3m in second quarter
Friday, 15 August 2008
BANGKOK, Aug 14, (AFP): Losses at Thailand's flag carrier Thai Airways International spiralled to 9.23 billion baht (274.3 million dollars) in the second quarter, the airline said in a statement today.
The figure is the biggest quarterly loss in a decade, due largely to soaring fuel costs, and far higher than the same period last year when the airline lost 417 million baht.
"The main reason was the sharp rise in the price of jet fuel by 73 per cent, causing the company's fuel costs to rise sharply," Ngamnit Sombutpibool, the airline's vice president of accounting, said in the statement.
An unexpected depreciation of the company's new aircraft and financial losses caused by a weakening of the Thai baht against the dollar have contributed to the company's bad fortunes, Ngamnit said.
The airline plans to lay off 400 staff, mainly through an early retirement programme, which would cost about 700 million baht and be paid for by reduced investment, the company's president Apinan Sumanaseni told The Nation newspaper.
The figure is the biggest quarterly loss in a decade, due largely to soaring fuel costs, and far higher than the same period last year when the airline lost 417 million baht.
"The main reason was the sharp rise in the price of jet fuel by 73 per cent, causing the company's fuel costs to rise sharply," Ngamnit Sombutpibool, the airline's vice president of accounting, said in the statement.
An unexpected depreciation of the company's new aircraft and financial losses caused by a weakening of the Thai baht against the dollar have contributed to the company's bad fortunes, Ngamnit said.
The airline plans to lay off 400 staff, mainly through an early retirement programme, which would cost about 700 million baht and be paid for by reduced investment, the company's president Apinan Sumanaseni told The Nation newspaper.