Historically, Thai Airways’ fleet has been all over the place, and the carrier has lacked any sort of a cohesive strategy. At one point, it almost felt like someone in the carrier’s fleet planning department was getting paid a bonus for acquiring as many different kinds of planes as possible.
The company’s management is now trying to be a bit more disciplined, and streamline its fleet. The airline has dozens of Boeing 787s on order, which will soon become the carrier’s flagship long haul aircraft. These planes are expected to feature an all-new business class, which should be pretty consistent across the fleet.
On top of that, the airline plans to go all-in on Airbus A321neos for narrow body flights, and the first of those planes has just been delivered. In this post, I’d like to go over all the details.
Thai Airways has 32 Airbus A321neos on order
Thai Airways has a total of 32 Airbus A321neos on order, with the first plane having just been delivered. Specifically, the plane with the registration code HS-TOA has just been flown from Hamburg (XFW) to Bangkok (BKK) via Dubai (DWC).
This has all happened on fairly short notice — in early 2024 the airline signed lease agreements for these planes, and we saw the first of the planes delivered in under two years, which is pretty quick.
What’s interesting is that historically Thai Airways didn’t fly any narrow body aircraft in its mainline fleet. In 2024 we saw Thai Airways discontinue its Thai Smile subsidiary (which operated a fleet of around 20 Airbus A320s), and integrate those planes into the mainline fleet. As the airline has done this, it has also upgraded its passenger experience, adding real business class seats and Wi-Fi.
But the A321neos are supposed to serve a different purpose. Given the very high standard of passenger experience in Asia, the A321neos are intended to be planes that can actually operate in competitive markets, even those that might be a little longer.
Thai Airways has scheduled its first A321neo routes as of January 2026, as the airline plans to fly these planes from Bangkok (BKK) to Singapore (SIN), Hong Kong (HKG), and Phuket (HKT), among other destinations. Eventually, a good portion of Thai Airways’ services will be flown by these aircraft.
Thai Airways A321neos have 175 seats in two cabins
Thai Airways’ entire Airbus A321neo fleet will be equipped with 175 seats, including 16 business class seats and 159 economy class seats.
In business class, the airline is offering Thompson Aero’s Vantage product, featuring staggered seats, meaning the cabin alternates between a 2-2 and 1-1 configuration, with a total of five rows. You’ll find this product on several airlines operating A321-family aircraft, like Aer Lingus.
As you’d expect, economy is in a 3-3 configuration, with seat back entertainment and charging ports at all seats. There’s also Wi-Fi throughout the aircraft, available for purchase.
Bottom line
Thai Airways has 32 Airbus A321neos on order, and the airline has just taken delivery of its first of these planes. In recent times, this is Thai Airways’ first narrow body aircraft specifically intended for the airline, as the only other narrow bodies are ones that were inherited through the discontinuation of Thai Smile.
While these aren’t the most cutting edge narrow body jets we’ve seen, they’re certainly an upgrade over what you’ll otherwise largely find with the Thai Airways fleet. I also appreciate how many of these are on order, as the airline will finally offer some level of consistency.
What do you make of Thai Airways’ A321neo plans?
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