BANGKOK, 4 January 2024: Thai Smile, the daughter company of Thai Airways International, ended all flights on 31 December following months of phasing out international flights and later handing over all its domestic routes to the parent airline.
Thai Smile’s last flights included a round-trip Bangkok-Krabi, Bangkok-Khon Kaen, Bangkok-Chiang Rai and Bangkok-Hat Yai. All Thai Smile flights ended on 31 December 2023, with the last flight departing Hat Yai in southern Thailand to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.
Closing down the subsidiary airline was part of THAI’s Rehabilitation Plan that should see the national airline achieving a complete restoration under the country’s bankruptcy court ruling.
As part of the business restructuring, Thai Smile was required to transfer all flight operations and services to Thai Airways, effective 1 January 2024.
Thai Smile Airways launched in 2012 as a subsidiary of Thai Airways International, focusing on regional and domestic Thai routes.
It aimed to offer a low-cost fare alternative to Thai Airways International with a younger and more casual brand image.
However, success eluded its management, and due to heavy losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was decided to phase out Thai Smile as part of the airline group’s rehabilitation plan supervised by the bankruptcy court.
As a subsidiary, Thai Smile’s financial performance was consolidated into Thai Airways’ books, affecting its bottom line.
Local news reports quoted by Khaosod English suggested that the cumulative loss from its inception in 2012 until the merger was just short of THB16 billion(approximately USD460 million). In 2021 alone, Thai Smile reported a loss of THB4.24 billion (approximately USD122 million).
Existing bookings on Thai Smile have now been transferred to Thai Airways International flights. On domestic routes, THAI has maintained flight schedules using the Thai Smile’s A320 fleet, but it has deployed larger aircraft on some key routes, such as Phuket and Chiang Mai. However, it did drop one flight on the Bangkok – Chiang Rai route, offering just morning and late afternoon flights between the capital and the far north town. The local travel and hospitality sectors called the loss of the third daily flight to Chiang Rai a setback.
