Thai Airways A350 flying to MEL in July?!
 

Gotta love Thai Airways....

After the news that TG were requesting a delay for the a350 a couple of weeks ago it seems that they have completely backflipped and loaded the a350 onto the GDS for TG465/466 from 1 July and TG461/462 from 1 August.

http://airlineroute.net/2016/01/31/tg-s16update1/

Other tidbits include configurations for a 32 seat business and 289 economy cabin.

Any ideas about the layout of these, whether or not this is actually happening, TG getting my hopes up once again??

I fly out every few months and all I really pray for on the Melbourne route is a consistent 777-300ER....

Well depends which flights you take, TG465/466 has consistently been 77W for the past week, whilst TG461/462 has been 77E, though outside peak both flights rarely see 77W's. However with the planned A350 EIS according to OAG it looks like MEL, at least will be consistent, being exclusive A350 from AUG - which I hope is true!

When is TG expected to receive their first A350? Has it even entered final assembly yet?

It's not yet reflected in the GDS. But it's showing in the OAG.

Dummy booking on TG website is still giving Boeing 777-200/300 as an operating aircraft...

As stated earlier, it's not loaded into the GDS system, this is just a preliminary schedule reflected on OAG. So many changes can still happen.

TG did say they were looking at deffering the A350's and 789's not long ago, so I'm not sure if they are still planning too as they haven't formally differed them as of today.

Looking at all those aircraft changes I truly don't get it. With all their different configs flying around you would think they would at least try and keep some consistency of product in to certain markets.

It seems they like to give markets a taste of the 777-300ER and 787 then probably just as the regular patrons are getting used to the better product they go and swap it out for older ones to another market. Japan is a prime example of this where they can't seem to make up their mind. Australia similarly. Though Perth does seem consistent with the 787, though Melbourne dropped back to the 200's after being consistent with the 77W, similar Brisbane.

I was explaining to OP that what (s)he said was not correct. See my bolding in parts of OP above.

Some of the changes filed in the OAG appeared in the GDS and TG website on Monday, including the return of A380 to KIX, 787 to PEK (limited time)...etc. MEL still shows 777.

Well, my booking for OS8635 (operated as TG465) on 6 July shows A350-900 in my booking on LH and in CheckMyTrip. However, seat map is still for 777 and dummy booking on TG still gives 777.

Jeeeee.... I really wasn't expecting to get so much hate on by the people on here. So I'd like to address all the flaming that has gone on the past few days.

Once again TG465/466 has gone back to the 777-200ER. During peak periods (such as the beginning of the Melbourne school term) the 77W gets routed here on a semi-regular basis, but once again, the inconsistency and not knowing what product you're going to get until the plane leaves BKK is frustrating (although this has been discussed at length in other forums)

The fact was that the flights were loaded onto the OGA and NOT GDS, my mistake, but award bookings and other channels have been showing throughout the past week as a an A350 operating on the Melbourne routes. (If you don't believe me do a dummy booking on AMEX travel and see that the A350 is shown as the aircraft with a 777 seat map)

IN addition to this. The TG A350's that were/are scheduled to be delivered this year have been given registration numbers HS-THB and HS-THC respectively, with the former already given the royally bestowed name "Wichan Buri", which comes back to the original question that I asked of whether or not TG did a backflip on the A350 delay or not given that it is so close to delivery (possibly 4 months away??).

So once again I come back to my original questions of whether or not anyone has heard anything about the A350 config or whether or not they're getting delivered at all???

Am I missing some posts on this thread...because I don't see any hate or flaming at all...just a clarification about GDS vs OAG timetables!??

not even TG knows!

I heard that they will accept the first 2 A350 aircraft, they are too far away in final assembly not be be accepted.

According to local TG reps, the A350 is planned for MEL, they are just awaiting final confirmation in Bangkok. So they are definately aware of the A350 so it's just a matter of time before everything gets confirmed! :)

Makes sense for TG to upgauge MEL a little, figures in recent months shows numbers have grown substantially. Not sure what's the drive behind the growth though!

I'm going to guess a dramatic increase in Thai students coming into study due to the low Aussie dollar as well as price reductions to $700 AUD return. Also JQ only fly direct twice a week now...

Any ideas about the configuration and seating? I really hope they go for the staggered and not the horrifying BE Aerospace ones they've got on the 787.

Are the beds on the MEL flight fully flat?