Thai Airways International said it expects an average annual revenue growth of nine percent over the next five years, during which it plans to buy 14 new aircraft.
"The new planes will increase our capacity by seven percent, giving us an average revenue growth of nine percent per year," airline president Kanok Abhiradee told reporters late on Wednesday.
He did not give specific forecasts, but the carrier has said previously it expects revenue to grow to 150 billion baht (USD$3.62 billion) in its current financial year to September 2004.
It had revenues of 135 billion baht (USD$3.26 billion) in its previous financial year, which runs from October 1 to September 30.
Last month, the airline said it planned to spend 96.4 billion baht (USD$2.33 billion) on buying the 14 aircraft during its five-year business plan from October 2005 to September 2010 to expand its fleet.
Kanok said the company's board also approved details of the new planes -- six Airbus A380s, the world's biggest airliner, one Airbus A340-500 and one Airbus A340-600.
The other six planes were Boeing 777-200ERs he said.
The new aircraft would be financed mostly by loans, Kanok said.
However, the purchase of the new planes will still need cabinet approval and the source of funding will be discussed with the Finance Ministry, which owns 54.2 percent of the airline, the airline has said.
Thai Airways is 23 percent-owned by foreign investors, including Morgan Stanley & Co International and Goldman Sachs International.
Thai Airways has said the new planes will help expand its routes to Europe, the United States and Australia.
It wants to increase capacity to destinations such as London, Frankfurt and Munich by replacing smaller planes with bigger ones or adding flights.
It also plans to launch non-stop flights to the United States, Australia and Russia next year.
Thai Airways, which has 83 aircraft, has also ordered three Airbus A340-500s and five A340-600s and is scheduled to start receiving them from next year. The plan for 14 more is in addition to these purchases.
