Thai Airways Denies Bankruptcy and Protest Rumours

Thai Airways International has denied rumours circulating through online channels regarding bankruptcy and employee protests.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Thai Airways said, "it is untrue that the company will go into bankruptcy. Since its establishment, THAI has met all debt payments even with low operating results in the past. Therefore, the company will not go bankrupt as it has never missed debt payment since it was established."

At the end of the third quarter 2013, the company had assets that were primarily aircraft valued at approximately 315,923 million Baht and debts including burden of interest at approximately 183,489 million Baht, excluding the burden of expenses for 20 leased aircraft in the fleet.

Regarding flight delays on 5 January 2014, Thai Airways said the "company currently lacks outsourced manpower at Suvarnabhumi Airport, causing work slowdown at the airport for tasks that require experience and expertise. The management has corrected the problem and apologizes for passenger inconvenience."

The airline added that "messages appearing in social and online media are rumours and that THAI employees did not intentionally delay the flights in a show of protest."

In 2008, the yellow shirt protestors, very similar to the anti-government protestors currently on the streets of Bangkok, closed the airports of Phuket (twice), Krabi, Hat Yai and Suvarnabhumi.