Thai Airways soared to new heights with a firm order for 45 Boeings 787 nozzlespotentially increasing the work on the eye 80 aircraftin response to the increasing demand for international travelaccording to industry sources.
The deal, due to be formally unveiled later this month, is already shown in Boeing’s published order backlog as a contract for 45 planes with an unknown buyer. Boeing declined to comment on the case and referred questions to Thai Airways, which has yet to issue a response.
The aircraft will be powered by engines from GE Aerospace, which is a significant shift considering Thai Airways’ long-standing partnership with Britain’s Rolls-Royce. The move marks a new chapter for the Asian carrier and a win for GE, as the airline currently uses Rolls-Royce engines on its existing 787 aircraft, according to the sources.
Industry sources indicated that engine negotiations had spilled over to aircraft selection, revealing that Thai Airways’ decision to ditch the Airbus A350 in favor of the 787 was partly influenced by a disagreement over engine maintenance costs with Rolls-Royce, Reuters reported.
Rolls-Royce, GE and Airbus declined to comment on the matter.
In related news, Thai Airways has addressed a recent incident at Chiang Mai Airport where a Canadian passenger’s attempt to open a plane door while waiting to take off caused several flights to circle without being able to land. The outage occurred on Wednesday, February 7, leading to temporary chaos as flights were unable to land at the airport.
Chiang Mai Airport experienced significant disruption when a 40-year-old passenger, reportedly in a state of panic, tried to open the door of a plane that was about to take off. This action stopped the departure of flight TG121, which was scheduled to leave Chiang Mai at 21:05, and detained the aircraft for some time on runway 36 in Chiang Mai.
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