Thai Airways to lease eight more A321neos
February 7, 2025
On 5 February 2025, Dublin-based SMBC Aviation Capital announced that it had signed a lease-agreement with Thai Airways. The agreement is for eight Airbus A321neos that are planned to come from SMBC’s existing orderbook with Airbus.
They will be delivered to Thai Airways between 2026 and 2027, and will join ten A321neos that Thai Airways will be leasing from AerCap, the first of which is set to be delivered later this year.
The airline will use its new leased Airbus A321neo aircraft to replace its current fleet of 20 Airbus A320s.
Thai Airways’ existing fleet consists of five A330-300s, 23 A350-900s, five Boeing 777-200ERs, seventeen 777-300ERs, six 787-8s, and three 787-9s.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused huge losses for Thai Airways in 2020 and 2021, and led to the airline filing for bankruptcy protection in 2020 in order to maintain operations. Since then, Thai Airways has undergone a thorough restructuring to improve its financial position and to put its operations on a solid footing. The airline has launched an extensive modernization and expansion plan, restructuring and realigning its fleet as well as its corporate structure.
The lease deals for 18 more A321neo aircraft have been accompanied by an order for 45 Boeing 787-9 aircraft (also announced in February 2024), to further strengthen its long-haul business.
