Thai Airways is looking to resume most of its international routes by the end of April, high level sources in the company told Thai Enquirer on Monday.
The airlines has suspended most of its international routes due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and have only resumed international travel in Q4 2021.
However, analysts inside the company predict that the spread of Omicron coupled with countries reopening their borders from restriction will result in a mid-year resumption of normalcy for many of their most popular routes.
"We will gradually open all routes back up and slowly increase volume of flights starting at the end of April and look to return to normalcy by the middle of this year should the pandemic situation maintain its course," a senior source within the company told Thai Enquirer.
The source said that things could still be subject to change depending on the coronavirus situation and whether a new variant could disrupt the reopening of various countries.
"The two countries we likely won't see a resumption of services soon is Japan and China who have been much more cautious about reopening," the source added. "But European routes should pick back up by the end of Q2.
Thai Airways has been one of the hardest Covid-19 impacted Thai companies. Already struggling for profitability even before the pandemic, the global shutdown in travel resulted in lengthy appearances before the bankruptcy court and a complete restructuring of the company.
According to its latest financial report, the airline posted a net profit of 51 billion baht for the first nine months of 2021, driven by gains from debt restructuring and the sale of assets and equities.