COVID crisis prompts Thai Airways to cancel most flights

Thai Airways International is suspending most of its passenger operations with a throng of Asian routes ending March 25 and flights to Australia following on March 27. The Thai carrier is following other airlines whose operations have also been badly affected by travel restrictions and national lockdowns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The airline will still operate cargo flights on some routes as well as charter flights for stranded passengers or at the request of government agencies. READ: Virgin stands down 8000 workers, cuts flying by 90 percent. Destinations to be suspended March 25 are: Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Yangon, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Dhaka, Islamabad, and Colombo. Starting on 25 March 2020: Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Yangon, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Dhaka, Islamabad, and Colombo. The airline’s domestic flights to Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Krabi will be transferred and operated by subsidiary HAI Smile. The Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth suspensions follow March 27 and on April 1, Thai will cancel most of its European services.  These include services to London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow and Stockholm. The suspensions are in addition to previous capacity cuts to destinations in Europe, India, Japan, the Middle East and New Zealand. The airline is offering passengers the ability to convert unused tickets to a one-year voucher without fees and surcharges but the offer is subject to date restrictions Royal Orchid Plus members holding award tickets for travel between March 25 and May 31  can re-credit miles to their account or change the travel date without a fee or charge. The date for expired miles has also been extended until September 30, 2020.