TG suffers South Africa delay
Flights should start before World Cup 2010
Thai Airways International's hope to add Cape Town as a second stop on its revived South African service has been set back by a permit delay.
THAI deferred the re-launch of its non-stop Bangkok-Johannesburg flight to June 2, two weeks behind its anticipated date, because securing a permit from South African authorities was taking longer than expected.
The flag carrier hopes to extend its flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town before returning to Bangkok to ensure maximum load and profitability, said a senior THAI executive.
THAI dropped the Johannesburg route in January 2009 because of falling passenger levels. The service was first introduced in October 2006 with three flights a week.
The airline is betting on this June's World Cup 2010 from mid-June to mid-July in South Africa to revitalise the route.
THAI will be the only carrier to fly non-stop between Bangkok and the two South African cities. It expects to fill seats by drawing passengers connecting from its North and Southeast Asia network.THAI will offer four flights a week to Johannesburg with a capacity of 292 - 30 in business class and 265 in economy.
Though it has already started taking bookings, THAI plans to launch a media and advertising campaign in the second half of next month.
THAI has been talking with South African Airways (SAA) about establishing a code-share agreement whereby THAI can carry its passengers through Johannesburg to South America using SAA aircraft.
SAA, a fellow member of Star Alliance, operates flights from its Johannesburg hub to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo.
THAI shares rose yesterday to a 21-month high on expectations of rising travel demand and a peaceful outcome to the current political protests.
The shares rose by 13% to 27.75 baht in the morning session on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and closed at 27.25 baht, up 10.8%, in trade worth 536.22 million baht.
THAI stock has gained 48% this year compared with 3.4% in the SET index.
THAI carried 1.83 million passengers in January, a 16% increase from the previous year, according to company data released on Monday.
