Orient Thai Airlines

Orient Thai Airlines
โอเรียนท์ ไทย แอร์ไลน์

IATA OX ICAO OEA Callsign ORIENT THAI
Founded	1995
Hubs	Suvarnabhumi Airport Don Mueang International Airport
Fleet size	14
Destinations	8
Company slogan	"Do it by heart"
Headquarters	Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand
Key people	Udom Tantiprasongchai (Owner) Manassanant Tantiprasongchai (CEO)
Website	flyorientthai.com

Orient Thai Airlines Co., Ltd. is an airline with its head office in Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand.^[1] It operates charter and scheduled services in Southeast Asia. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.^[2] The airline has been a subject of several safety investigations by the United States National Transportation Safety Board and Department of Civil Aviation of Thailand^[3] after the crash of One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269, operated by the low-cost domestic arm of the airline.

Orient Thai Airlines is owned by Udom Tantiprasongchai and his wife Nina Tantiprasongchai. The Chief Operating Officer is Cho Tsing Tsang. The airline is managed by CEO Manassanant Tantiprasongchai, daughter of Udom and Nina. The aircraft is owned by GrandMax Group Limited, a British Virgin Islands Company controlled by Nina Tantiprasongchai.

History

The airline was formerly known as Cambodia International Airlines or CIA. The Cambodian government revoked Cambodia International Airlines' operating licence and thus leaving them without rights to operate from Cambodia. Udom Tantiprasongchai acquired two Boeing 727-200 aircraft and operated them under the name Orient Express Air. This took place circa November, 1995. The Boeing 727 were operated until he acquired ex-Delta L1011 Tri-Stars after which he phased out the Boeing 727s. Orient Thai ceased scheduled operations on 9 January 1998, but continues to operate charter services on behalf of Kampuchea Airlines. Scheduled operations have since been restarted. It is wholly owned by private Thai shareholders and has 820 employees (at March 2007). Orient Thai wholly owns One-Two-GO Airlines and has a 49% stake in Kampuchea Airlines.^[2]

Orient Thai Airlines was Asia’s first international charter operator. Along with its subsidiary, Kampuchea Airlines, it provided services to other airlines including Finnair, Lufthansa, LTU International and Merpati. It transported refugees around the world for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), including returning people to Kosovo from Australia and helping Timorese return to East Timor in 1999 after it won its independence from Indonesia. It became a designated UN carrier, transporting troops for peacekeeping operations worldwide. Orient Thai Airlines wasn’t just helping refugees get home or troops undertake their missions, its aircraft were also busy flying Muslim Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for various clients, including Air India and the Saudi royal family.^{[citation needed]}

Orient Thai Airlines and its now now-defunct wholly owned domestic carrier One-Two-GO Airlines are the only Thai airlines to bear a Royal Seal, made possible due to Udom’s close relationship with the King of Thailand based on Udom’s history of breaking traditional commercial barriers for Thailand.

On September 2004, an Orient Thai 747 flew within 200 meters of Japan's Tokyo Tower over the heart of downtown Tokyo.^[4]

On July 22, 2008, after the internet publication of illegally excessive work hours and check fraud Orient Thai and its subsidiaries were ordered to suspend service for 56 days due to failure to train, failure to have a safety program and failure to supervise safe flight, check ride fraud and breaking the law at Orient Thai and One-Two-GO. ^[5]

On 22 September 2010, Orient Thai took delivery of its first Boeing 747-400 aircraft which was previously registered as N548MD and arrived at the Orient Thai hub as HS-STC.^[6]

Destinations

Orient Thai Airlines serves the following scheduled destinations (as of November 2011):^[7]

Hong Kong (China)

• Hong Kong – Hong Kong International Airport

Thailand

• Bangkok
  • Don Mueang International Airport Base^[8] (currently suspended because of airport closure is closed due to the 2011 Thailand floods)
  • Suvarnabhumi Airport (Don Mueang flights temporarily being relocated there)
• Chiang Mai – Chiang Mai International Airport
• Chiang Rai – Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai International Airport
• Hat Yai – Hat Yai International Airport
• Phuket – Phuket International Airport
• Trang – Trang Airport
• Nakhon Si Thammarat – Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport
• Udon Thani – Udon Thani International Airport

Fleet

Orient Thai Airlines Boeing 747 at Seoul Incheon International Airport, 2005.

As of November 2011, the Orient Thai Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 23.6 years:^[9]

Orient Thai Airways fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Notes
Boeing 737-300	3	All equipped with winglets
Boeing 747-300	3
Boeing 747-400	2	Operated for Saudi Arabian Airlines
Boeing 767-300	2	One aircraft stored
McDonnell Douglas MD-81	2
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	2
Total	14

Incidents

During investigations into suspected tax evasion conducted by the Thai Crime Suppression Unit (CSD), two Boeing 747 aircraft parked at Phitsanulok Airport, Thailand were found to have been cannibalized having eight engines and many other parts removed. Both aircraft were reported to belong to Orient Thai Airlines.^[10]

References

	Thailand portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

1. ^ "Contact Us." Orient Thai Airlines. Retrieved on 4 March 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 59. 2007-04-10. 
3. ^ Thai DCA investigating crash in Phuket
4. ^ "Orient Thai B747 passes within 200m of Tokyo Tower". http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/148882-orient-thai-b747-passes-within-200m-tokyo-tower.html. Retrieved 2011-07-27. 
5. ^ "Matters of the Facts regarding Suspension of Air Operator Certificate of Orient Thai Airlines Co., Ltd. and One Two Go Airline Co., Ltd". Department of Civil Aviation News. 2008-07-28. http://investigateudom.com/files/news12goEnglish.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 
6. ^ Skyliner - aviation news & more
7. ^ Flight Schedule
8. ^ http://www.fly12go.com
9. ^ Orient Thai Airways fleet list at planespotters.net
10. ^ "Tax fraud suspicions centre on old 747s". Bangkokpost.com. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/225528/crime-suppression-police-searched-2-old-boeing-747-jets. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 

External links

• Orient Thai Airlines
• Services at DMK