Thai Airways Company
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| Founded | 1 November 1951 (amalgamation of Siamese Airways and Pacific Overseas Airline) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1 April 1988 (merged into | ||||||
Thai Airways Company or Thai Airways (TAC;
Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok.[1] In 1988, Thai Airways merged to become Thai Airways International (Thai
: การบินไทย).
History
Thai Airways traces its roots to the
Rearwin, Fairchild. The first flight was Bangkok-Phitsanulok-Lampang-Chiang Mai and began a Chiang Mai-Mae Sariang-Mae Hong Son two days later. The first international flight, a Bangkok-Songkhla-Penang
service, was on December 1947.
Siamese Airways was merged with Pacific Overseas Airlines (Siam) Limited (POAS), forming Thai Airways Company Limited (TAC) (Thai: บริษัท เดินอากาศไทย จำกัด (บดท)) following a resolution on 1 November 1951 from the Government of Thailand. It was also known as Thai Airways.
In 1960,
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) with the Scandinavian carrier initially providing a 30% share capital of two million Baht.[2]
Hawker Siddeley 748 of Thai Airways at Chiang Mai International Airport
in 1979Thai Airways bought the turboprop
Airbus A310-200 in 1985.[3]
On 1 April 1988, Thai Airways Company Limited (TAC) merged with
national airline of the Kingdom of Thailand, as authorized by General Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime Minister at the time.[2]
Thai Airways's 11 aircraft, consisted of 3
Airbus A310-200, combined fleet with Thai Airways International, total up 41 aircraft.[4] Airline codes
changed to Thai Airways International's airline codes at the end of 1988.
Destinations
Domestic Destinations of Thailand:
from/to Bangkok – Don Mueang International Airport
- Chiang Mai – Chiang Mai International Airport
- Chiang Rai – Old Chiang Rai Airport
- Hat Yai – Hat Yai International Airport (formerly destination as Songkhla)
- Khon Kaen – Khon Kaen Airport
- Lampang – Lampang Airport
- Uttaradit – Phitsanulok Airport
- Phuket – Phuket International Airport
- Nakhon Sawan – Nakhon Sawan Airport
- Nakhon Si Thammarat – Cha-ian Airport
- Sakon Nakhon – Sakon Nakhon Airport
- Surat Thani – Surat Thani International Airport
- Surin – Surin Airport
- Trang – Trang Airport
- Ubon Ratchathani – Ubon Ratchathani Airport
- Udon Thani – Udon Thani International Airport
from/to
Chiang Mai – Chiang Mai International Airport
- Chiang Rai – Old Chiang Rai Airport
- Mae Hong Son – Mae Hong Son Airport
- Mae Sariang – Mae Sariang Airport
- Mae Sot – Mae Sot Airport
- Nan – Nan Nakhon Airport
from/to Hat Yai – Hat Yai International Airport (formerly destination as Songkhla)
- Phuket – Phuket International Airport
- Pattani – Pattani Airport
- Narathiwat – Narathiwat Airport
International Destinations:
- Wattay International Airport, Vientiane, Laos
- Penang International Airport, Penang, Malaysia
- Subang International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi, Vietnam
Fleet
- 2 Airbus A310-200
- 3 Avro 748
- 2 Beechcraft C-45
- 4 Beechcraft Bonanza 35
- 1 Bell 206
- 5 Boeing 737-200
- 1 Consolidated Canso A
- 1 Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina
- 10 Douglas DC-3
- 3 Douglas DC-4
- 1 Fairchild 24W40
- 9 Hawker Siddeley HS 748
- 3 Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation
- 5 Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman
- 2 Rearwin
- 1 Piper PA-23
- 4 Short 330
- 2 Short 360
- 6 Stinson L-5 Sentinel
Incidents and accidents
- 25 December 1967: Flight 002, a Douglas C-47A (HS-TDH), crashed at Chiang Mai International Airport due to pilot error, killing 4 out of 31 passengers and crew on board.[5]
- 21 January 1968: At 10000 feet over Damnoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi Province, a Thai Airways Sud Caravelle IA (HS-TGL) collided with Royal Thai Air Force Beechcraft Queen Air 02018 that was photographing the Caravelle in flight; the Baron lost control and crashed, killing all six on board, but the Caravelle landed safely at Bangkok.[6]
- 7 May 1971: A Thai Airways Douglas C-47A (HS-TDE) undershot the runway at Mae Hong Son Airport, landing hard and bouncing in the process, after which it veered off the runway and turned around; all 21 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[7]
- 27 April 1980: Flight 231, a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 en route from Khon Kaen to Bangkok, lost altitude during a thunderstorm and crashed about 8 miles from Don Mueang International Airport. All four crew members and 40 of the 49 passengers were killed.
- 21 June 1980: A Thai Airways Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (HS-THG) overran the runway on takeoff at Chiang Rai Airport after failing to get airborne; all 21 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[8]
- 15 April 1985: A Thai Airways Phuket and was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire. All four passengers and seven crew members were killed. The accident occurred after a failure of both engines was reported.[9]
- 28 April 1987: A Thai Airways Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (HS-THI) made a wheels-up landing at Chiang Rai Airport after the co-pilot forgot to lower the landing gear; all 43 passengers and crew on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[10]
- 31 August 1987: Phuket, crashed into the sea off Phuket. All nine crew members and 74 passengers were killed.
See also
References
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 29 March 1986. 130.
- ^ a b "Thai Airways International - Company History". Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^ "Thai Aviation History - Fleets of Defunct Thai Airlines" (PDF).
- ^ "Thai Airways International - Developments and Advancements of THAI AD. 1979–1988". Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2017-11-3.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 10 November 2023.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 20 February 2014.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2017-11-03.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 4 February 2014.