The carrier also booked 1.58 billion baht in foreign exchange losses in 2017, compared with a foreign exchange gain of 685 million baht in 2016. Average jet fuel price was 24.2 percent higher than the year before. Asian jet fuel differentials have reached a 10-year high in 2018 as demand has outpaced production. Total revenue was up by 6.3 percent and reached 192 billion baht as the airline carried 24.6 million passengers in 2017, 10.3 percent more than it did in 2016.
Thai Airways reported a cabin factor - which measures how full its flights were - of 79.2 percent in 2017, the highest in 10 years and up from 73.4 percent a year earlier. The Thai aviation industry is expected to expand from tourism and the removal of the red flag related to safety concerns by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization in October last year, Thai Airways said in a statement.
A separate review by US Federal Aviation Authority is expected to take place mid 2018, Thai Airways said, which could open routes to the United States later in the year.
Thai Airways expected to receive five new Airbus A350-900 this year to fly intercontinental and regional routes, it said. The airline warned that competition from low-cost carriers and upward trend of fuel prices were risks for the year ahead. Thai carriers have been struggling to make the most of a boom in tourism to Thailand, which expects a 6 percent rise in tourists to 37.55 million this year.
Bangkok Airways Pcl said on Monday it would expand international routes but reported a 55 percent drop in net profits to 788 million baht in 2017. Thai Airway's low-cost subsidiary Nok Air narrowed losses in 2017 to 1.85 billion baht from a 2.8 billion baht loss a year earlier and plans a turnaround by expanding international routes in China and India.