Thai Airways reportedly has no plans to resume direct flights to the US, despite the US upgrading Thailand’s air safety rating this year to permit them, the airline's CEO Chai Eamsiri told the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore.
The Bangkok Post stated that Chai told the Singapore conference that the Thai flag carrier’s current fleet could not operate such long-distance flights efficiently, adding that the US market was a “big risk” in the current context of tariff negotiations.
The airline stopped flying to the US in 2015, the same year as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded the country’s air safety rating to Category two, preventing Thai airlines from launching or expanding services to the country.
Thailand has submitted a new trade proposal to the US in a bid to avoid a steep 36% tariff on its own products starting on Aug 1.
The country's Finance Minister, Pichai Chunhavajira, said last week that Thailand could purchase more Boeing aircraft as part of an agreement with Washington.
In February last year Thai said it had ordered 45 Boeing 787-9 wide-body jets with options for a further 35.