KATHMANDU: Struggling Thai Airways is selling street food in a desperate attempt to balance the books during the pandemic – and locals are queueing round the block every morning to buy it.
The flag carrier is selling pieces of fried dough – known locally as Pa Tong Go – with steamed purple custard for 50 baht (NZ$2.45).
Hundreds of hungry locals have been seen queueing from 4am every morning for the breakfast snack, and staff said they are sold out within two hours.
Thai Airways – which staved off bankruptcy after a court approved debt rehabilitation plan this month – claims it earns 400,000 baht (NZ$19,556) a day, or 10 million baht (NZ$488,849) a month from the stall.
However, it has some way to go to recoup its losses. The airline lost nearly NZ$600 million in 2019.
Airline acting president Chansin Treenuchagorn said the company was trying to boost its catering business to earn extra income and survive the pandemic, which has obliterated international airline travel in Thailand due to the country’s strict border closures since March 22.
The airline chief said: ”The fried dough has been so popular, we may expand the business through franchises and reach more customers around the country.”
Thai Airways has been trying a range of money-making schemes during Covid-hit 2020, including opening a plane-themed restaurant in Bangkok. STUFF