THAI Airways International, the Thai-based Thai airline based in Bangkok and based at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, has now introduced new measures to deal with staff or flight attendants who thereby avoid taxes on goods by simply passing the goods past Customs Smuggle into the country.
According to reports in the Thai media, the airline is said to have recently been informed by customs that some of its flight attendants had been caught smuggling goods from Italy. The flight attendants had exceeded the allowable exemption of goods imported by them from Thai customs. Thai Airways told the Thai press that the airline would not tolerate such behavior and would be disciplined against such an employee, the statement said.
Suthirat Siriphananon, Chief Executive Officer of Thai Airways' In-Flight Service, said the company has a policy that prohibits all employees from exceeding their allowance for duty-free and other goods in order to avoid other import duties. In-Flight Service staff monitor the suspicious behavior of airline employees and employees and inform the customs about potential violations.
Customs officials have recently intercepted some Thai Airways flight attendants returning from Italy who had tried to introduce more products than allowed back on their return to Thailand. When entering the country, the flight attendants did not register their goods and the corresponding deductible as required by customs.
The women were fined and their actions reported to the airline. Thai Airways International punishes all employees who violate the company's rules with the maximum penalty, - the dismissal, said a spokesman for the airline.
Thai Airways has been getting into the crossfire of the Thai media more and more recently. The airline is now, at least in business terms, a case that has caused huge losses for almost a decade. Thai Airways International, the national airline, is apparently in deep financial crisis and may need to delay debt repayment or even raise new loans.
In March 2019, THAI announced that the consolidated net loss of THAI Airways International Plc increased to 11.6 billion baht in 2018. This is explained by a loss of 2.1 billion baht in the previous year (2017) due to higher fuel and repair costs in 2018, Thai Airways management reported.
The loss per share amounted to 5.33 baht, compared with 0.97 baht in 2017, said the airline on Friday (1 March 2019) the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The airline's management commented on the sharp decline that the high baht was responsible for the losses, and the continued US-China trade wars.
In the meantime, an informed source at the Department of Transportation said the THAI debt crisis was very severe, exposing the airline to a total debt of around 245 billion baht, a leverage ratio of 14.55%, and hence a risk of bankruptcy.
The source said that if THAI were to buy a new fleet worth an estimated 156 billion baht, it would become the world's most heavily indebted airline.
Sources: Thai airways, thailandtip
