Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai Int'l) will lease three of its Airbus A330-200s to Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l) as a means of trimming its bloated wide-body capacity, company officials have confirmed. Jet has decided to lease out an A330 to Etihad and plans to lease out two more this year. In addition, it will lease out three B777-300(ER)s to Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Atatürk) that are currently on lease to Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi). Since axing loss-making flights to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, New York JFK and Milan Malpensa, the Indian airline has had to park six of its Airbus A330s, leading to added costs of USD16.6 million.

Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) along with Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and MASKargo, the cargo division of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l), have been fined a total of NZD 9.6million (USD 8.06 million) for operating "a price-fixing cartel" on cargo flown into New Zealand between February 2000 and February 2006, the country's Commerce Commission announced on Monday, April 22. The commission filed proceedings against 13 airlines in December 2008, alleging they had colluded to "impose fuel and security surcharges for air cargo shipments to and from New Zealand". According to the High Court judgement, Cathay Pacific was ordered to pay NZD 4.3 million, Thai Airways NZD 2.7 million and MASKargo, NZD 2.6 million bringing the total number of airlines penalized in the price fixing case to 10 and the total penalties to NZD 35 million.

Thai Smile (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has agreed with aircraft lessor AWAS to lease nine additional new A320-200s that will complement the five A320-200s Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) already operates under the Thai Smile brand and the six additional aircraft of the same type it has on order from Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac). Thai Smile currently is just a division of Thai Airways International but is expected to start operating on its own air operator certificate at a later stage.

Thai Smile (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) managing director Woranate Laprabang has told the Centre for Aviation that Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) would have decided in principle back in November of 2012 that Thai Smile will be transitioned from a division to an independent airline. Thai Smile currently operates as a separate business unit of Thai Airways and operates its four A320-200s under the same air operator certificate and IATA code. Its product has been positioned between low-cost carriers and Thai mainline and it currently operates on routes from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport to Chiang Mai, Krabi, Macau Int'l, Phuket and Surat Thani as well as between Chiang Mai and Phuket.

Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) is considering acquiring and leasing up to 12 A350-900s according to a news report by Air Transport World based on an interview with Thai's Product Design and Development Director Rangsiman Mokkhasmit. The B777-300(ER)s already on order and the A350-900s would then fully replace its 16 B747-400s by 2017.