“The company has hired a team of consultants to work on budget assessment for the project, which is expected to be finalised within two to three months,” Areepong Bhoocha-oom, chairman of the national carrier’s board of directors, said on Thursday.
THAI will then form a joint venture with partners to build a new aircraft-maintenance centre at U-tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport in Rayong’s Ban Chang district, he said.
The airline will seek qualified partners that are eager to participate in aviation and aircraft maintenance, he added.
“THAI aims to build a maintenance centre that means customer airlines [in Thailand] will not have to fly a long distance to get their aircraft maintained. The centre will also serve clients throughout the region,” he explained.
The new facility is expected to help stabilise the company’s revenue, he said, but added that it is not yet in a position to disclose the investment budget for the project.
U-tapao Airport is undergoing a major expansion, although the work is months behind schedule, with the new opening date reported to be some time in the first quarter of next year.
The expansion of the Royal Navy airfield and facilities is also reported to be well over the original budget of Bt700 million, now standing at around Bt1.7 billion. Once the expansion is complete, the airport will have a new passenger terminal as well as 20,000 square metres of commercial space.
Capacity will be increased from 870,000 passengers per year to more than 3 million.
Areepong said THAI’s board on Thursday had also approved a plan to refurbish the business-class seats on six of the airline’s Boeing 777 fleet, to offer more comfort and raise the level of customer satisfaction.
The facelift is part of the carrier’s product-improvement programme, which aims to tackle tougher competition and more rivals in the business-class segment.
All business-class seats in the six aircraft will be changed to flat-bed seats, while seating in economy class will be unchanged, the chairman added.