Thai Airways is one of the most interesting and fascinating airlines to analyze in terms of its fleet. It has the hugely important role of feeding tourists to its home country while also being a fairly popular travel option for users between Europe, Asia and Australia. Here’s what metal they use for their flights and what makes them so interesting.
In this post:
- The Thai Airways Aircraft Fleet Breakdown
- The Exotic Quad-Jet Past (not all that distant)
- How Did We Get To The Current Fleet Structure?
- The New High Efficiency Thai Airways Fleet Era
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The Thai Airways Aircraft Fleet Breakdown
| Manufacturer | Aircraft | Units | Fleet Segment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus | A321neo | 6 | Medium/Short Haul |
| Airbus | A320-200 | 20 | Medium/Short Haul |
| Airbus | A330-300 | 6 | Medium Haul |
| Airbus | A350-900 | 23 | Long Haul |
| Boeing | 777-200ER | 2 | Medium Haul |
| Boeing | 777-300ER | 16 | Long Haul |
| Boeing | 787-8 | 5 | Long Haul |
| Boeing | 787-9 | 4 | Long Haul |
I wanted to get the breakdown out of the way right at the top of the post so to get into the interesting stuff for the die hard aviation lovers that made it past the bare numbers.
There’s so much to cover when talking about Thai Airways. Where I’d like to start is from a Thai’s history with quad-jet planes that no longer are in use.
The Exotic Quad-Jet Past (not all that distant)
Thai Airways is now a streamlined airline, operating exclusively twin-engine aircraft. However, until not that long ago the carrier operated some real quad-engine beaties.
The turning point was 2020 and the covid induced crisis that affected Thailand and its national carrier. That’s when the last four-engined aircraft unfortunately exited the fleet as the carrier encountered mounting economic issues.
Among the most iconic four-engined aircraft Thai Airways has operated in the not too distant past are the:
- Boeing 747 – which it operated until the 400ER variant.
- Airbus A340-600 – a rather rare aircraft to come across, which I also flew on between Bangkok and Sydney in 2009
- Airbus A380-800 – which it was one of the few operators, retiring the entire fleet in the wake of covid and never bringing it back.
How Did We Get To The Current Fleet Structure?
Thai has changed massively over the past years. The carrier has shedded costly fuel thirsty aircraft and embraced new generation high efficiency planes.
That wasn’t mostly out of its own volition. Thai Airways underwent bankruptcy restructuring between 2021 and June 2025.
Leading up to the bankruptcy the airline had grown bigger and less efficient financially. That wasn’t a problem as long as business and travel ran smoothly.
Covid disrupted that balance putting Thai in a difficult position putting its existence in jeopardy.
The airline that emerged from the process was a much leaner operation. It reduced its costs significantly letting go of older planes, including all its quad-jets, to remerge as one of the worlds most profitable airlines.
The New High Efficiency Thai Airways Fleet Era
Since 2021 the focus for Thai Airways fleet has been fuel efficiency. The carrier has focused on ordering and putting into use only new generation aircraft, which have been gradually and progressively replacing older generation jets.
The most recent addition to the fleet is the Airbus A321neo which is replacing the older generation A320ceo family jets. The A321neo has also secured Airbus‘ dominance in Thai Airways narrow body fleet for years to come as the A320 family will remain the aircraft type used.
On the wide body segment the split is much more even, with Airbus and Boeing having an equal share of the pie. Airbus has the A350-900 as its new generation wide body aircraft in the Thai fleet, while Boeing has the 787 Dreamliner.
However, there is still work to be done in this division as there are still some older generation jets operational, such as the A330s and some older 777-200ER and 777-300ER.
A part of those Boeing 777-300ER are very special to Thai Airways. Three of them, all delivered in the month of April 2022, are the only aircraft to feature the most exclusive travel class Royal First Class. These aircraft are registered:
- HS-TTA
- HS-TTB
- HS-TTC
And you can read all about them and where they fly in this purpose-written post.