In a notice in Thai the company announced on its own Facebook page a dramatic reduction of its fleet services.
“Due to the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19, several countries in Europe and Asia has intensely increased preventive measures including screening by local Ministries of Public Health and Civil Aviation Organizations as well as national lockdown,” the notice said.
The notice also explained that that THAI has prepared its plans and temporarily suspended its operations on the following flights:
1. Starting Mar 25: Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Yangon, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Dhaka, Islamabad, and Colombo. For domestic flights to Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Krabi will be transferred and operated by THAI Smile.
2. Starting Mar 27: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth
3. Starting Apr 1: THAI will cancel most of its flights to Europe which are London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow and Stockholm
THAI previously suspended flights to Sendai, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Busan, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Rome, Milan, Vienna, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Muscat, Dubai, and Auckland.
To facilitate customers, THAI allows passengers holding THAI and THAI Smile code-share flights air tickets, issued before Mar 25 with the following date of travel, to convert unused tickets to one-year valid travel voucher without fee and surcharges:
- Asian Routes during Mar 25 – May 31
- European, Australian and New Zealand Routes during Apr 1 – May 31
Royal Orchid Plus (ROP) members holding award tickets issued to travel during Mar 25-May 31, 2020 may fully re-credit mileages or change the travel date without any fee or charge with expired miles extended until Sept 30, 2020.
Passengers may check flight schedules and make changes to itineraries themselves on www.thaiairways.com website. For ticket adjustments or more information, ROP members can contact THAI Sales Offices or visit www.thaiairways.com/rop.
THAI still operate cargo service in some routes and will operate charter flight if there are stranded passengers or requested by government agencies concerned. The Company will inform passengers accordingly if there is some flight adjustment.