BERLIN, June 6 (Reuters) - The head of Thailand's national airline said on Sunday the country's political crisis had passed and vowed to press ahead with plans to raise cash from the markets this year rather than wait for possible early elections.
Thai Airways International President Piyasvasti Amranand, a former energy minister, said falling demand after violent protests in the capital would cap the airline’s second-quarter earnings after a strong start to the year.
"I believe the political situation has returned to normal and the government has dealt with the crisis very well, and we should be facing a period of peace and stability," Amranand told Reuters Insider television at an industry conference.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday a state of emergency would remain in place despite unrest easing but that an election was possible early next year..
Emergency measures were imposed in Bangkok on April 7 and expanded to 23 provinces during the worst political crisis in modern Thai history as "red shirt" anti-government protests descended into bloody clashes with troops and arson attacks.
"The second quarter will not be good, but I suspect it will be roughly the same as the second quarter of last year when we were facing an economic crisis worldwide as well as a certain amount of turmoil in April last year," Amranand said.
In the second quarter of 2009, Thai Airways reported a loss of 5.4 billion baht, hit partly by political unrest and the H1N1 flu outbreak.
He was speaking as over 700 airline executives gathered in Berlin for an annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association, cheered by signs of economic recovery but worried about scattered unrest, strikes and volcanic ash disruption.
Amranand, appointed in October to overhaul the airline and improve its liquidity, said he saw no need to wait for elections to implement plans to sell up to 1 billion shares "within this year". Such an offer would be worth almost $750 million at current prices.
An early election is a key demand of Thai protesters.
"If you wait for certainty, you will never have political certainty, so the timing depends on when we are ready," Amranand said.
Thai Airways announced the stock offer in March, aiming for mid-2010.
Images of political violence and travel advisories by Western and Asian governments have weighed heavily on Thailand’s tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of GDP and employs at least 15 percent of the workforce.
