THAI fire sale of offices mooted 6 Aug 2015 at 18:35
Thai Airways International is to consider plans to sell 30 local and overseas office buildings and staff residences to cut costs, while the sale of its headquarters could come under consideration much later.
THAI president Charamporn Jotikasthira said on Thursday the properties that could be listed for sale are 19 overseas and 11 local buildings.
"It will help cut the costs of management and maintenance for these assets. The sale of THAI's headquarters on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road is not a plan for the time being, but is among last choices," Mr. Charamporn said.
The planned sales are based on the need for individual buildings and their locations. Among the first properties to be sold are the office building in Sydney and the staff residence in London, he said
He admitted that asset sales were sensitive and could affect the image of the airline. He will propose the sale plan to the THAI board in September.
Mr Charamporn said THAI would introduce a revenue management system that would allow it to monitor the fares of other airlines and adjust its own fares hourly in order to sell tickets at the best prices.
THAI will also introduce a new network management system to improve its flight schedules and aircraft deployment.
THAI would start to use both systems in either October or November, enabling it to compete with low-cost airlines and raise its income by about 8 billion baht per year, Mr Charamporn said.
THAI suffered a net loss of 15.6 billion baht last year and 12 billion the year before. It was able to reverse course in the first quarter this year, posting a net profit of 4.54 billion baht, helped by a robust travel industry, foreign exchange gains and cost controls.