THAI 1999 Profits Make a Comeback

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited was ranked among the top 20 airlines under the categories Highest Group Operating Profits (ranked 11th) and Highest Group Operating Margins (ranked 12th), according to the World Airline Financial Rankings survey published in Airline Business Magazine, September 2000 issue. The Profit and Loss analysis for 1999 was conducted among the world's top 150 airline groups while the ranking was based on individual airline operations, rather than group results. The Regional Analysis also ranked Thai Airways International among the top ten Largest Airline Group: Asia-Pacific (ranked 8th) .

The results were taken from reports submitted by the airline groups. Other sources included press statements and other published reports including figures from IATA's World Air Transport Statistics (WATS).

The elements used in the financial ranking included revenue, percentage change in revenues, operating and net results, operating and net margins, and mainline revenues by division (applicable to parent mainline carrier)

The 1998 Asian economic crisis caused long-term effects on operations of various industries including airlines. However, despite the hike in fuel costs and exchange rate, many Asian airlines made a comeback with higher net profits, including Thai Airways International, which marked an apparent recovery among Asia-Pacific's airline groups.