Thailand

Asia

13Airlines

1Profiled Airports

10With ICAO

11With Callsign

Aviation History

Aviation in Thailand (then Siam) began with public demonstration flights around 1911 and quickly led to the founding of one of Asia's earliest air forces and one of the world's oldest continuously operating airports, Don Mueang. Domestic and international carriers developed separately for decades before being unified into a single flag carrier, Thai Airways International, which became a founding member of the Star Alliance. The airline expanded into a major long-haul network carrier through the late 20th century but suffered severe financial distress culminating in a 2020 bankruptcy filing amid the COVID-19 collapse in travel demand. A multi-year court-supervised rehabilitation followed, with the carrier returning to the stock market in 2025. Thailand's aviation sector today also includes a large low-cost segment (Thai AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air) serving its major tourism industry.

✦Don Mueang Airport, opened in the 1910s, is among the oldest airports in the world still in operation.

✦Thailand's Royal Thai Air Force, founded in the early 1910s, was one of the first air forces established in Asia.

✦Air Siam operated as Thailand's first privately owned international airline in the 1960s-70s before ceasing operations.

1911

First public flight demonstrations in Siam

Early aviators staged Thailand's first public aeroplane demonstration flights around 1911, an event later commemorated as Thai National Aviation Day.

1914

Don Mueang airfield established

Don Mueang, near Bangkok, was established as a military airfield in the 1910s and grew into one of the world's oldest continuously operating airports.

1947

Thai Airways Company founded

Thai Airways Company was established to operate domestic routes within Thailand, predating the later international carrier.

1960

Thai Airways International founded

Thai Airways International was established as a joint venture with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which held a minority stake and provided operating expertise, to build an independent international carrier.

1988

Domestic and international carriers merged

The government merged Thai Airways Company (domestic) and Thai Airways International into a single national flag carrier, Thai Airways International.

1997

Star Alliance founding member

Thai Airways was one of five airlines that founded Star Alliance in 1997, one of the first global airline alliances.

2020

Bankruptcy protection amid COVID-19 collapse

Thai Airways filed for court-supervised rehabilitation in 2020 after accumulating heavy debt, following decades of financial strain and the pandemic-era collapse in air travel.

2025

Exit from rehabilitation, relisting

Thai Airways completed its rehabilitation plan and returned to the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2025.

Notable Carriers

Thai Airways International · Bangkok Airways · Thai AirAsia · Nok Air · Thai Lion Air

General aviation-history sources (Wikipedia, airline histories, news coverage of Thai Airways' 2020-2025 rehabilitation); exact 1911 demonstration-flight details and Thai Airways' post-2025 financial status may be refined by more specific sources.

Aviation Firsts

Oldest Airport

Don Mueang International Airport — Bangkok (1914): Opened as a Royal Thai Air Force base 27 Mar 1914 (first flights landed there 8 Mar 1914). Wikipedia states it is 'regarded as one of the world's oldest international airports' and among the oldest operating airports in Asia. Today Thailand's second-busiest airport, base for Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X and Thai Lion Air. No competing candidate surfaced — treated as uncontested. · Wikipedia ↗

Oldest Airline — contested

Siamese Airways Company Limited (1947): Formed 1 Mar 1947 by cabinet resolution as the domestic flag carrier; first flight Bangkok–Chiang Mai; first international route Bangkok–Penang (Dec 1947). Merged into Thai Airways Company 1 Nov 1951. · Wikipedia ↗

Thai Airways International (THAI) (1960): Thai Airways Company (TAC, 1951) created Thai Airways International as its international-carrier joint venture with SAS in 1960; TAC merged fully into THAI on 1 Apr 1988. THAI continues operating today as the national carrier. · TG ↗ · Wikipedia ↗

Siamese Airways (1947) is the earliest documented Thai commercial airline by lineage (defunct since the 1951 merger); THAI (1960, formalized 1988) is the oldest still-operating entity by name continuity. Whether any earlier pre-1947 government aeronautical mail/passenger service in Siam should count as an 'airline' was not verified this session.

First Foreign Ground Handler

Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) (France), 2004: Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), a joint venture between WFS (then France-headquartered) and Bangkok Airways, was established in 2004 to provide ground handling and cargo services in Thailand. No source states WFS's exact ownership share or explicitly claims "first," so this is treated as tentative. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) ↗