Exclusive: Inside Thai Airways HQ, A380 Simulator

BANGKOK — Our visit to Bangkok featured a unique tour of the Thai Airways International (TG) head office and a meeting with the airline’s CEO, Mr. Chai Eamsiri, where we learned about the carrier's 65th anniversary and future outlook.

In 2020, TG opened a restaurant to retain its workforce, serving in-flight meals. The entire canteen is themed around the old product, the Airbus A330, featuring colorful aircraft seats used as regular seating. 

The airline also has a flagship store where guests and employees can buy gifts, travel utilities, memorabilia, and aircraft models. After our lunch in the TG canteen, where Mr Chai Eamsiri joined us, it was soon time to check out the new cabin on board the A321neo.

The A321neo Seats

Thai Airways is expecting its first A321neo aircraft to join the fleet before the end of the year. To maintain a consistently high standard, the airline has equipped it with staggered 1-2, 2-1 seats, similar to those found on Tap Portugal (TP), SAS (SK), and Aer Lingus (EI). The cabin will showcase an elegant black design, accented by purple and wood elements.

The seat will recline into a lie-flat bed and offer the latest in-flight entertainment and connectivity options, along with charging ports and enhanced storage compared to the new A320 Royal Silk cabin. TG will officially announce the new cabin, uniforms, amenity kits, and more in a few weeks.

The A380 SIM

Our visit continued to the A380 simulator. TG used to operate up to six A380 to destinations like London Heathrow (LHR) and Tokyo Narita (NRT). The aircraft fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the combination of low to no demand and high operating costs led many airlines to suspend the super-jumbo.

Some of Thai Airways’ A380s can still be seen at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), where passengers seated on the right side while approaching runway 19 can spot four A380 lined up alongside other parked wide-bodies.

In its extensive range of simulator facilities, TG offers a full-motion A380 simulator, which we are visiting today. The cockpit is incredibly spacious, and being able to touch and activate all the available toggles and commands was a dream come true in so many ways.

The SIM Flight

Our flight began in Bangkok, where we pushed back our A380. From there, I taxied via T6, C5, and C4 before aligning with runway 19. I admit that taxiing was more challenging than I anticipated and took significantly longer than expected. 

However, I was finally aligned and ready to go. After configuring the environmental conditions along with V1, VR, and V2, we finally lifted off, retracting the landing gear and flaps as needed. I then experimented with the control surfaces as we turned back, flying over Bangkok.

The approach was equally interesting. After flying around Bangkok for a while, we came in at the excessively high speed of 280 knots at around 4000 feet to expedite the landing. 

While guided, intercepting the ILS glide slope was relatively easy, and I enjoyed manually landing the aircraft with better results than when I tried the British Airways A350 simulator at the 2024 Farnborough Airshow. In comparison, I lined up on a taxiway at Heathrow rather than one of the two runways at that time.

I received brief instructions on the landing procedure, and the first landing was relatively smooth—not due to my nonexistent talent, but rather because the motion feedback was off.

The second time, I managed to follow the correct rate of descent and reduce thrust at 30 feet. However, this still resulted in landing on the main right gear before anything else.

Takeaways

Overall, it is hard to describe what piloting a A380 feels like for an inexperienced individual. While understanding the basics through home flight simulators, the full-motion cockpit offers a truly unique aviation experience. 

The combination of all the toggles and the sensation of motion makes you genuinely feel in control of a 500+ tonne double-decker airliner, which surprisingly felt light when piloting it out of Bangkok.

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