The Thai AirAsia X rehabilitation plan will be ready this month.
By the end of this year, the airline wants to start giving travelers refunds.
Thai AirAsia X has said that by the end of the following month, it will have implemented its rehabilitation strategy. Tassapon Bijleveld, Thai AirAsia’s CEO, has stated that talks with a number of creditors are still continuing on but should be finished by the middle of April.
He anticipates that the airline will start refunding and compensating passengers before the end of this year if the negotiations are shortly concluded.
Thai AirAsia’s problems and bankruptcy filing
In early 2020 and again in 2021, Thai AirAsia temporarily ceased operations. The COVID-19 pandemic-related declines in travel were mostly to blame for this. Several clients were left without immediate reimbursement for canceled flights as a result of the suspension of operations.
According to other travelers, they have waited up to three years for refunds. According to Tassapon, the airline expects to compensate the remaining passengers during the next four to five months after processing over 50% of refunds. Further compensation will also be provided to those who have been waiting for refunds. Some travelers will receive an additional flight voucher of THB2,000 ($58.00 USD) from Tassapon, the airline.
The bankruptcy of Thai AirAsia was declared in May 2022. The airline said that by filing for bankruptcy, Thai AirAsia will be able to better handle the debts brought on by the stoppage of operations and the COVID-19 outbreak. Patima Jeerapaet, the CEO, remarked at the time,
“Thai AirAsia X has entered into rehabilitation at an appropriate time with tourism recovering and the nation reopening. We assure that this process will have no impact on our passenger services or flight plans. Passengers who have already made reservations or are looking to make reservations will be able to fly to South Korea and Japan starting this June 2022.
Thai AirAsia X also has further plans for expansion and will be adding flight frequencies and new routes in line with demand.
Thai AirAsia’s return to health
Even though Thai AirAsia sought bankruptcy protection, the airline started restarting some flights and making plans to increase its operations. The following month, the airline restored service to Seoul Incheon and Tokyo Narita, and later that year, service to Osaka Kansai and Sapporo Chitose was also reinstituted. Currently, the airline offers service to eight locations across five different nations.
According to Tassapon, the airline’s present flight capacity is just about 50% of its pre-pandemic levels. The Director General of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA), Subhas Menon, also discussed the rising numbers. For the month of February 2023, there were 16.9 million intra-Asian passengers. The increase from the prior year is 645%. Added Menon,
As pre-pandemic flight frequencies and city links are gradually restored in 2023, “strong travel demand will continue to sustain recovery in passenger traffic.”
Thai AirAsia was operating twelve wide-body flights before the COVID-19 epidemic. This was downsized to five Airbus A330-300s when it was recently announced that a second A330-300 would be retired from service. Recently, several flights were canceled as a result of this unserviceable aircraft.
