Thai Airways will cut 1,401 jobs in 2015 through voluntary retirement as part of efforts to cut operating costs and capacity by 20 per cent over the next two years. It will also stop its loss-making flights to Rome and Los Angeles, with further route cuts expected before the end of the year.

Thailand’s military government is reforming a number of state-controlled enterprises, one of which is the country’s national carrier with restructuring to include a reduction in employees numbers and the sale of an unspecified number of aircraft.

“It’s normal that we have to cut costs and adjust flights to suit the changing situation,” said Thai Airways president Charumporn Jotikasthira, adding that a budget of THB 5.3 billion (€137.4 million) has been put aside for the voluntary retirements. The latter do not include employees who reach retirement age in 2015.

And while the Los Angeles and Rome routes will be stopped (and Kolkata frequencies cut, plus Hyderabad, Changsha and Luang Prabang operations transferred to its Thai Smile low cost unit), the carrier will double the number of flights between Bangkok and both London and Frankfurt, to twice daily.