Thai Airways is preparing to offload a selection of its old aircraft seats in the latest of a series of online auctions tomorrow. Interested parties will have three colors to choose from, with a pair of seats costing just over $1,000. The auction will be broadcast live on social media via its online Facebook shop, so don't miss out!
The potential for some fancy new furniture
Aviation enthusiasts, as is the case for many hobbies, love the opportunity to get their hands on memorabilia that has previously been used onboard an aircraft. You only have to take a quick look at the boom in tags made of aircraft skin, a subject that Simple Flying has covered extensively, to see this fact become evident.
Thai Airways is set to join the party tomorrow, but will instead be selling old seats rather than tags made of aircraft skin. According to a post on the Facebook page of TG Warehouse Sale, the carrier's online marketplace, it will begin selling these rare pieces of furniture tomorrow at 14:00 local time. This equates to 07:00 UTC.
As seen in the post above, the seats come in three different colors, with each pair being priced at 35,000 Thai Baht. This is equivalent to $1,036, €945, or £792. The airline notes that it has never sold such products before, and only a limited number will be available to buy through a livestream on TG Warehouse's Facebook page.
Not the airline's first online sale
A quick look on the TG Warehouse Sale page shows that it has established a significant online presence, with more than 22,000 users following it. This is because Thai has made a bit of a name for itself when it comes to online memorabilia sales over the years, with the impacts of coronavirus being a catalyst.
Indeed, Simple Flying reported on one particular selling spree in November 2020, in which the carrier sold items as small as cutlery and as large as Boeing 747s to raise money. The sales were part of an attempt to mitigate some of the losses incurred that year, which had piled high due to the Covid-induced drop in demand.
While Thai's position has since improved somewhat, it still finds itself in an industry full of uncertainty. According to The Thaiger, the initiative's aim, which is also seeing smaller souvenirs like napkins being sold, is to "increase the financial strength of the national airline." But where exactly is the airline at in this regard?
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Back in business
Thankfully, the urgency for Thai Airways to sell anything and everything to help keep it afloat has subsided. After all, as Simple Flying reported earlier this month, 2021 marked the carrier's first year of profitability in five years. This hints at a strong recovery from the impacts of coronavirus, and, hopefully, a bright future.
Last week, Simple Flying also took a look at how Thai Airways' restructuring process is beginning to reap rewards. It has completed around 80% of more than 400 planned transformation projects, resulting in a $1.5 billion drop in operating costs. With Thailand now open to vaccinated passengers, more and more of its purple-liveried aircraft are also now returning to the skies.
What do you make of Thai Airways' seat sales? Have you ever purchased any of the carrier's memorabilia? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Source: The Thaiger