Date: 26 March 2003

Thai Airways International (THAI) expects to establish a "super deluxe" carrier despite plans to set up no-fills airlines commonplace in the commercial aviation world these days.

THAI president Kanok Abhiradee summoned a gather of the Thailand Chapter of the Asia-Pacific Aviation Media Association on Monday night, and proposed the idea of establishing the premium service to Thai Airways. Such service would cater to the growing wealth of passengers in neighboring countries such as China and India according to the THAI president.

During the difficult times on account of US-Iraqi war as well as the spread of mysterious flu across Asian countries, most airlines around the world has considerably been affected. They are cutting back on flights, laying off staff and slashing costs to makes end meets amid the downturn in the commercial aviation during this time. For THAI, the Bangkok-Europe route has been most affected as many Europeans are nervous about war and also the Asian flu. Those airlines in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Vietnam have been also affected by the issue of "killer" outbreak.

Consequently, the new service initiated is deemed to be an approach, though unconventional, to turn the situation around. Mr. Kanok also predicted that THAI and domestic tourism would recover quickly once the war ends.

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