Thai Airways Leasing 7 Ex-American Airlines A330s? Maybe...
- Konrad Tillman
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
Intro
Quite a while ago, Thai Airways was in conversation about leasing 7 ex-American Airlines A330s. While the talks died for a little bit, reader Alan has flagged that these talks are back on the table.
The Details
Thai Airways is attempting to take anything and everything they can get their hands on at the moment. With their future aircraft being delayed, Thai Airways is looking for short-term widebodies to help fill the gaps in the market. While Thai Airways currently has a few A330s in its fleet, which are ex-Virgin Atlantic, it would seem that this number should be expanded shortly.
During the pandemic, American Airlines retired a significant number of widebodies, some of which have sat in storage waiting to be sold off. Some of these happen to be the A330s, and these should be coming into Thai's hands soon. Not only will this help fill the gaps in the market, but these planes also feature premium economy, something which Thai Airways is bringing to their fleet soon (already on ex-VS 330s).
While these products certainly aren't cutting edge, I would expect these aircraft to serve mid-haul destinations such as Pakistan and China. This will also open up more A350s and 777s to fly to longer-haul destinations, as well as new markets such as Amsterdam (we think).
I Am A Fan, But Also Not
For anyone who has read this blog, we all know Thai Airways is my favorite airline in the world. Whether it be them adding pajamas to business class in the future, caviar to business class, and new cutting edge cabins, they have taken their airline up a notch over these last two years.
However, I'm not a fan of this from a consumer perspective. Let's be honest, Thai Airways is in no rush to create a fleetwide business and economy class layout, and adding more A330s just means that consumers have no idea what to expect when booking a flight. Especially with how notorious the airline is for last-minute aircraft swaps.
But on the other hand, I am happy they can add new destinations, so there's that. I get it, I just wish more thought and effort went into aircraft deliveries.
Final Thoughts
Talks are back on the table about Thai Airways leasing 7 ex-American Airlines A330s, in hopes of expanding to new destinations, especially with their focus on the Chinese market for 2026. While I am happy that the airline is growing, the reality is that these jets will most likely not be retrofitted inside and will provide a lackluster hard product. Come on, Thai Airways, you are so close to being great, while still cutting corners...
I feel like these A330s really are a last resort for TG. They have stated that they would want to lease more modern aircraft if possible, but those are far and few between right now, as they took up a huge chunk of available-to-lease A350s when they leased 11 (HS-THO to THZ) over the last 2-3 years.
I know that they currently have secured an ex-Vistara 787-9 that's current in AUH getting the necessary changes. Its actually an ex-Hainan bird, so the cabin will match HS-TWC, another ex-Hainan 787-9 they took last year. That's expected to be delivered before then end of the year.
They're apparently also looking for 777-300ERs as last year they were in talks to actually buy…