Orient Thai Airways

Updated 12th Aug 2026

Orient Thai Airlines stopped flying on 9 October 2018, and Thailand's Central Bankruptcy Court later declared the company bankrupt with effect from 14 September 2021. It had operated for 23 years under the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code OX. No route page on this site carries an Orient Thai flight.

Is Orient Thai Airlines still flying?

No. In October 2018 the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) indefinitely suspended the air operator's certificate that allowed it to fly commercially, and it had to stop selling tickets and stop flying at once. Its services had already been suspended at the end of July 2018, during a restructuring that did not work.

Why did Orient Thai Airlines stop flying?

CAAT's director-general, Chula Sukmanop, gave the reason as financial difficulties and large unpaid debts: aircraft parking fees owed to Airports of Thailand, and air traffic service charges owed to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand. CAAT described it as a debt matter, not a safety finding. To fly again, Orient Thai would have had to clear the liabilities and file a debt-management plan for the regulator to review.

What happened before Orient Thai Airlines stopped flying?

In March 2016 it cancelled all its Hong Kong to Bangkok flights for ten days, blaming mechanical problems with the single Boeing 747 it used on the route, and the Travel Industry Council put the immediate impact at up to 4,000 passengers. Refunds had been promised within 45 days, and by July 2016 passengers reported that they had received neither the money nor an update.

Its international flights had already been suspended in September 2017 under a ministerial order, part of CAAT's action against Thai carriers that had not completed recertification. A new air operator's certificate followed on 9 November 2017, valid to 8 November 2022, and the airline had less than a year of flying left.

What happened to Orient Thai Airlines after it stopped flying?

The Central Bankruptcy Court issued a final receivership order on 26 October 2020, on a petition from a creditor, Aero Parts International LLC. It then declared Orient Thai Airlines Co., Ltd. bankrupt with effect from 14 September 2021, and the Official Receiver's notice was published in the Royal Gazette and reported by the business paper Thansettakij in January 2022.

The aircraft Orient Thai Airlines flew, and where it was based

It started out with Boeing 727s on domestic routes, and it flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong. Over the airline's life the fleet included Boeing 727-200s, 737s, 747s and 767s, along with McDonnell Douglas MD-81s and MD-82s.

Records differ on which Bangkok airport it used as its base, Don Muang or Suvarnabhumi, and the registered address on its bankruptcy notice was in the Don Muang district.

How Orient Thai Airlines began, and its link to One-Two-GO

Udom Tantiprasongchai founded the airline as Orient Express Air in 1995 and renamed it Orient Thai Airlines in late 1996. He is credited as the first mover in Thailand's low-cost airline business, ahead of Thai AirAsia and Nok Air, and he died on 16 January 2021, aged 66.

One-Two-GO was Orient Thai's own low-cost brand, launched in December 2003. The name was retired in July 2010 and its aircraft were rebranded as Orient Thai. The One-Two-GO Airlines page covers that brand's own history.