Thai Airways to seek Airbus delivery delay

BANGKOK: Thai Airways International said on Thursday it planned to ask European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to postpone the delivery of six A330 aircraft due to a shortage of cash.

The flag carrier was due to receive the airliners later this year but has suffered amid the global economic downturn and from a week-long blockade of Bangkok's airports by anti-government protesters late last year.

"The board meeting on Wednesday assigned the management to discuss with Airbus over this issue. The reason is due to Thai's liquidity," a spokeswoman for the airline said.

"But we still have to wait for further detailed information from the management on the date and details about a discussion with Airbus," the spokeswoman said.

Thai Airways' net loss for the first three quarters of 2008 was 6.61 billion baht (189 million dollars), against a net profit of 2.53 billion baht for the same period in 2007, according to company figures.

The airline said last year that it had lost around 20 billion baht after protesters against the previous government occupied the capital's international and domestic airports from late November to early December.

The protest stranded around 350,000 passengers in Thailand. The central bank said on Wednesday that the siege cost the country's economy 290 billion baht.