Thai Airways' court rehab ended with its shares up 216% on relisting

Thai Airways had been losing money nearly every year since 2012, squeezed by budget-carrier competition, when the pandemic grounded it. In September 2020 Thailand's Central Bankruptcy Court approved the airline's petition to restructure its debt under bankruptcy protection — about 245 billion baht ($7.83 billion) at the time — a decision that sent the suspended shares more than 7% higher. 'If the debtor is not restructured, it could cause damage to the company, creditors, employees, investors, the public and impact the national economy,' Judge Kampol Roongrat said.

The plan was drafted under a restructuring committee chaired by former energy minister Piyasvasti Amranand, who had run the airline profitably from 2009 to 2012. The airline committed to selling 42 older, fuel-inefficient planes and returning 16 leased jets — leaving 58 aircraft across four types — and to cutting the workforce from 21,300 to about 14,500 by December 2022, backed by a 25 billion baht credit agreement with banks and talks for a further 25 billion baht.

Over the five years that followed, total restructured debt amounted to around 400 billion baht ($11.17 billion), the workforce was halved and the fleet trimmed. By relisting on August 4, 2025 — debt reduced to 190 billion baht, operational profits booked in 2023, 78 jets flying at an 83.3% cabin factor — the airline returned to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, where the stock rose as much as 231% intraday and closed up 216% at 10.5 baht, from around 3 baht before the suspension.

Debt cut from about 400bn to 190bn baht, the workforce halved, a slimmer 78-jet fleet — and a 216% share gain on the day trading resumed in 2025.

The carrier's losses predated Covid — competition from low-cost rivals had kept it unprofitable since 2012 — so the pandemic collapse forced a structural reckoning rather than a temporary fix.

Bankruptcy-court protection gave the airline something voluntary workouts rarely deliver: a stay on creditors while a single plan covered debt, fleet and headcount.

Putting a proven former CEO, Piyasvasti Amranand, in charge of the creditors' committee lent the plan operational credibility, not just financial engineering.

Cutting to 58 aircraft across only four types cut maintenance and training complexity at the same time as capacity, making the smaller airline cheaper to run, not just smaller.

A court-supervised reset let the airline take its losses all at once — halving fleet and workforce — instead of bleeding for a decade, and the market paid a premium for the clean slate.

Thai Airways exited the process with court approval in mid-2025, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand removed the stock from its possible-delist list and lifted its suspension for an August 4, 2025 relisting after nearly five years. The airline emerged with debt of 190 billion baht — less than half its restructured total — its first operational profit since before the pandemic in 2023, a 78-jet fleet and first-quarter 2025 profits up about 300% year on year. Shares closed the first day back at 10.5 baht, up 216%.