airlines-brace-for-hard-landing

Airlines brace for hard landing

As Thai Airways requests government support, the regionÆs other airlines prepare for the worst.

By Edward Russell

January 19, 2009

Thai Airways' four decades of profits have come to an end. The airline, joining many of its regional and global peers, expects to post a record loss for 2008 û a year marked by volatile fuel prices and a global recession.

Asking ThailandÆs government for a Bt19 billion $545 million loan, Thai Airways yesterday joined its Chinese siblings and banks around the world on the government dole. The loans, requested from state-owned banks, are needed to cover operating expenses that the airline will not be able to pay by the end of March, according to Thai Airways chairman Surachai Thansitpong.

Thai Airways saw its business hit drastically by an eight-day closure of BangkokÆs Suvarnabhumi Airport...

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