Thai Airways Generates 1 Million Baht In Less Than One Minute – By Selling Old Airbus A330 Economy Class Seats

Thai Airways had at least a little commercial success this year as they just held an online auction for aircraft interior, harvested from an old Airbus A330 and in under a minute the auction yielded One Million Baht.

The auction was held yesterday (TUE) and the seats were apparently the only items sold yet it apparently proved to be a big success among airline enthusiasts in the Kinddom.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see any advertisement for this auction beforehand or I’d have at least joined to monitor it although I don’t desire to add a set of Economy Class seats into my living room.

The Bangkok Post reports today that the entire stock was gone in under a minute.

Cash-strapped Thai Airways International earned over 1 million baht in under a minute on Tuesday by selling passenger seats stripped from its decommissioned aircraft.

Thirty pairs of seats in different colours, including the airline’s motif purple and pink, were quickly snapped up during a live-streaming session on the Facebook page TG Warehouse Sale.

The economy class seats, on sale at 35,000 baht a pair, were sold out in less than a minute. The sale raked in 1,050,000 baht in total.

According to the airline, the seats, which have been thoroughly cleaned, come equipped with seat belts. They can recline to up to 15 centimetres if they are fixed to the floor and 10cm otherwise.

They are due to be delivered to buyers in early May.

They were taken from a decommissioned Airbus A330-300. THAI is going through financial restructuring in the Central Bankruptcy Court.

Many airlines in recent years have started to sell aircraft novelty items including seats to their fan base but this is the first time that Thai Airways did something like this as far as I remember.

This is their Facebook page:

In September of 2020 I visited Thai Airways aviation themed cafe at their Bangkok head office:

We Visited Thai Airways Very Fun, Aviation Themed Restaurant (Former Staff Canteen) In Bangkok

Back then it was the time when THAI had already been grounded for six months already and the company tried to raise brand awareness and give the employees something to do. This cafe has proven to be very successful with many visitors. The cafe also included aircraft seats from decommissioned planes.

As mentioned, Thai Airways isn’t the only carrier that does this. Here is a similar sale by Singapore Airlines last month:

Singapore Airlines Now Sells Upcycled Business Class Seats, Carts & Other Items

The Singapore Airlines seats are a lot more expensive at S$6000 per seat and arguably uglier than the colored TG Economy Class seats.

At the end of the day, these sales won’t make a dent in the balance sheet of the carriers but they are nice novelty items that satisfy their fan base, keep the brand name in circulation during times where flying has been extremely limited and of course, it means the items can be recycled rather than being thrown away.

Conclusion

Thai Airways held an online sale via Facebook yesterday where the carrier generated THB 1,050,000 by selling 30 sets of recycled and renovated Economy Class seats from an old A330-300.

I think this is a great idea and while I personally wouldn’t spend money on it (at least not 35,000 Baht) I can see some purpose for these items. Maybe someone has a business with a waiting area and wants to add something fun and colorful to the office. Good for them that it was a successful sale!