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Thai Airways wants forum to enforce reciprocal open skies
July 19th 2019
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Thai Airways International (THAI) hopes to gain momentum with a new fleet and business restructuring. As it looks at opportunities, it finds itself constrained by the lack of reciprocal open skies.
“We also discussed the obstacles faced by THAI, especially unfair practices related to the open skies policy. Thailand has opened its skies to foreign airlines, but we have found that many countries do not open their skies to Thai airlines,” president Sumeth Damrongchaitham told the Nation.
Aviation’s most prominent debates about open skies and unfair practices have typically targeted Middle Eastern superconnector airlines. But those debates are not about the reciprocal issue THAI raises. Sumeth did not elaborate on the exact complaints.
Regionally, reciprocal access issues are increasingly discussed in the context of airlines being unable to secure slots at congested airports, often but not exclusively in China. Airlines observe that peers based at congested airports have an easier time securing slots, and especially peak hour slots.
Sometimes the cause is airlines adjusting their slot portfolio. In a theoretical scenario, a Chinese airline could re-allocate its slots to open a flight to Bangkok without any net growth in slots. But a Thai carrier would be unable to grow in China since there are no new slots.
Sumeth said a group of Thai carriers will hold a forum to present solutions to the Transport Ministry and other related agencies. They are positioning the problem as hurting Thai tourism, a major driver of the economy. “This is an unfair practice and will have a negative impact on our tourism industry,” Sumeth said.
