The future of Thai Airways: Part 1 - The Fleet
- Alan Harlow
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Introduction
For my first proper post on Jettoajet, I wanted to report on a topic that I am probably the most passionate about and currently the most invested in, the future of Thai Airways. The image of the airline generally still is that of its pre-covid days. A mixed bag fleet, with varying service and inconsistent onboard product. As well as being an airline with no clear plan for the future. Today, I want to break that myth, and show you that behind the scenes, major changes have been made to the airline since 2020 to increase efficiency and consistency. In this post, I wanted to focus specifically on the airline's current fleet of 80 aircraft, as well as its future fleet of almost 90 aircraft on order. In my second part to this series, I will focus primarily on the onboard experience, the products, hard and soft and in the third part, I will focus on the airline's future strategy for its network.
The Past: Everything, everywhere, all at once
To look to the future, first we have to look back at the past. Stereotypes exist for Thai Airways for a reason. That is because for the longest time, the stereotype of the airline basically wanting to operate every single type of widebody aircraft more or less seemed to be true. All you had to do was take a look at the airline's fleet in 2019, and its clear that there was no true fleet plan whatsoever.
The 2019 fleet consisted of:
Airbus: 20 A320s (operated by Thai Smile), 15 A330-300s, 12A350-900s and 6 A380-800s
Boeing: 10 747-400s, 6 777-200s, 6 777-200ERs, 6 777-300s, 14 777-300ERs, 6 787-8s and 2 787-9s.
As you can image to have this many aircraft types in a fleet of around 100 aircraft is incredibly inefficient, not to mention the different engine types, crew pools and onboard products. The fleet wasn't particularly modern, with the 747s, being over 20 years old by then and most of the older 777s having been delivered in between 1995-1999. This played a major role in the airline's unprofitability and inconsistency.
The Present: Good but not quite good enough yet
As of November 2025, the fleet looks very different. The efforts made by the new management to simplify the fleet are very clear. As of today the fleet currently consists of;
20 Airbus A320-200s, 6 Airbus A330-300s, 23 Airbus A350-900s, 3 Boeing 777-200ERs, 17 Boeing 777-300ERs, 6 Boeing 787-8s and 4 Boeing 787-9s.
While onboard product consistency is still suffering, due to factors such as the airline having to take on many 2nd hand leased aircraft, such as 3 ex-Virgin Atlantic A330-300s and a random assortment of A350-900s, mainly from Hainan and Hong Kong Airlines to handle the fast increase in demand while waiting for delayed new aircraft deliveries. However, this is only temporary, as the airline's future fleet plan, has a vary clear strategy in mind: Efficiency and Consistency.
The Future: Dreamliners and NEOs, bright skies ahead
As I touched upon in the last section, the airline has a very clear and concise plan for its future fleet and over the next 10 years, we will see that plan come into action, starting from the end of this year.
I first want to start with the aircraft the airline has on order. Starting with the future of its short-haul / regional fleet. The airline currently has 32 Airbus A321NEOs on order, with the first 2 expected before the end of 2025. This is the aircraft the airline is banking on to expand its regional to medium haul network, the airline is expect to expand on routes to China and India, as well as using the aircraft on thinner routes to Japan and South Korea. They are also expected to have lie-flat seats in Business Class, as well as seatback IFE in Economy, Wi-Fi connectivity and more.
With 17 aircraft expected by the end of 2026, the airline expects to not only open new routes, with cities like Busan, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Wuhan being mentioned. The airline also expects to add frequencies to existing regional routes, Singapore, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are those that come to mind.
The long haul fleet also has a clear future plan. The airline currently has 50 Boeing 787s on its order. This order is a bit more complicated. 5 of these 787s, are the -9 variant and are part of a leasing deal from AerCap. They are expected to come directly from the factory but are NTU frames, so they will have the cabins that were previously chosen by the airline that cancelled them. All 5 are due to be delivered in 2026.
The remaining 45 have been ordered directly by THAI, and will be owned by the carrier rather than a lessor. They are split between the 787-9s and 787-10s and are expected to have deliveries starting at some point between the end of 2027 and the beginning of 2028. While the number of split has not been officially announced yet, at least 6 of these aircraft are expected to be the -10s, with the -10s also being the first from this order to be delivered.
The airline is expecting to offer a whole new product in these aircraft, offering 3 classes, which include Business Suites, a front row Premium suite as well as the re-introduction of a proper Premium Economy class. I will go into more detail about this in the 2nd part of this series. All 45 aircraft are expected to be delivered by 2032.
It should also be noted that the airline has options for a possible extra 40 aircraft and is looking into exercising this option. The airline is also currently conducting a study for its new fleet flagship, to replace its 17 Boeing 777-300ERs, which by 2032, will be approaching 20 years of service. The study is between the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-9X, more details on this are expected to be announced in 2026.
Before I conclude this post, I also want to touch upon the plans for its existing fleet and what it plans to do to create the most consistent fleet possible.
The airline is expecting to retire a large number of aircraft in the coming years, with the Boeing 777-200ERs being retired by the end of 2026. The Airbus A330-300s are expected to be gone by 2029 as well as the Boeing 787-8s, with the first 2 being retired in 2026. The airline also plans to drop 2 oddball Airbus A350-900s in the 35C configuration, with the inferior 2-2-2 product, which will leave mid-2026.
A major retrofitting programme is also planned for its Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A350-900s. The first of these retrofits will be the 777s, with retrofitting starting for 14 aircraft from the end of 2026, and to be completed by the end of 2027. This will give the aircraft the exact same onboard 3-class products as the upcoming 787s. These will actually be the first aircraft to feature the new product. Once the 777 retrofit project is complete, the airline is expected to start retrofitting 21 Airbus A350-900s in early 2028. Once again, using the same products as the 777s and 787s. What this means is that by 2029, the airline's entire long haul fleet will have the same product in all cabins, a first in the airline's history.
Conclusion
To conclude, I think it is very obvious now that the new management means business. While there are some current growing pains from the rehabilitation plan, these are just temporary. If all goes to plan then by 2032, Thai Airways will arguably become one of the most consistent and efficient airlines in the region, with one of the youngest fleets to match. As someone who is rooting for the airline's success, it is certainly a very exciting time for the airline.
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