New THAI president aims to revitalise brand
Thai Airways International (THAI) needs boost its brand and focus on the strengths of Thailand as a destination, the carrier’s new president has said.
At press conference in Bangkok to mark his first day in his new job, Dr Sorajak Kasemsuvan told Travel Daily that he wanted THAI to become “the pride of Thai people and Thai customers”.
One key area of focus would be the airline’s in-flight service. Stressing THAI should become “the best Thai restaurant in the sky”, Dr Sorajak said the airline’s food and how it is served were likely to be changed in the short term.
“That is something that we should be able to achieve,” he said, adding it could be “quickly done”.
He was more cautious however, about the possible roll-out of new routes. “I cannot say out of the blue. I cannot use my gut feeling. Routes have to come from detailed analysis,” he said.
General feeling is that Dr Sorajak will need to wait until THAI’s annual results are released before announcing any major changes. The carrier operates a January-December financial year which means any reforms are unlikely before the turn of the year.
The schedules for the airline’s new A380s have already been announced however, with flights to Frankfurt commencing in December, followed by Tokyo, Paris and Osaka.
Dr Sorajak replaces Piyasavati Amranand who was ousted from THAI earlier this year.