Thai Airways International (THAI) is expecting its revised business reorganisation plan to be accepted by the Central Bankruptcy Court in the first or second week of October, despite some opposition from its creditors, the airline announced on Tuesday.
The ailing flag carrier submitted a revised rehabilitation plan earlier in the month, following a better-than-expected recovery from its dire financial problems.
Chai Eamsiri, the airline's senior chief and acting chief of financial officer, said the Central Bankruptcy Court has called the business reorganisation plan administrator to testify today and tomorrow, as some creditors have expressed their opposition to the revised plan.
Nonetheless, Mr Chai believes the court will approve the amended plan sometime in the first half of next month. Once the plan is approved, the airline will press on with its debt restructuring programme and recapitalisation.
THAI wants to ensure it has strong finances so it can recapitalise when the time is right, he said.
He noted that once the debt rehabilitation process kicks off, THAI will lose its status as a state enterprise, as the percentage of the company's shares held by the Finance Ministry will drop from 44% to 33%.
"The plan marks the point of no-return for THAI, as afterwards it will go ahead as a [public] company, not a state enterprise," he said.
One of the changes in the revised business rehabilitation will see creditors receive more shares in the company than state agencies.
Mr Chai insisted the new share ownership structure would curb political influence in the company's operations.
"Reducing such influence will enable the board to professionally manage the airline," he said.
The carrier expects to finish carrying out its business rehabilitation plan in two years and this year, the company said it is confident it will perform much better than last year.
THAI is expecting to carry 4.5 million passengers this year, on the back of a solid cabin load factor of between 80-82%.
Mr Chai said the airline's passenger volume will be given a major boost if China and Japan reopen this year.
Meanwhile, July's global passenger demand remains strong, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Total traffic in July (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was up 58.8% compared to July last year. Globally, traffic is now at 74.6% of pre-crisis levels.
Domestic traffic for July this year was up 4.1% compared to the same period last year, driving the sector's recovery. Total July 2022 domestic traffic was at 86.9% of the July 2019 level. International traffic rose 150.6% compared to July last year. July's international RPKs reached 67.9% of July 2019 levels.
