Thai Air launches Bangalore flight

Encouraged by excellent passenger load rate of its flights from four Indian metros, the national carrier of Thailand, Thai Airways International, on Wednesday announced introduction of flights in Bangalore-Bangkok sector and said it had plans to launch flights from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Jaipur and Kochi.

Passenger load rate in its daily flights from Delhi to Bangkok was 98-99 per cent, three weekly flights from Mumbai 96-97 per cent and Kolkata 86 per cent and four weekly flights from Chennai 85-86 per cent, the carrier's general manager to India, Pricha Nawongs, told a news conference in Bangalore.

Inaugural flight of the four weekly flights from Bangalore to Bangkok was on March 29 last and the load factor in the last three weeks was on an average 80 to 85 per cent, Nawongs said.

He said frequency of flights from Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai would be increased and it would be made daily this year, a move which is allowed under the open sky policy between India and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).

Thai had plans to operate flights from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Jaipur and Kochi in the next two to five years, Nawongs said.

Pointing out that India was considered one of the fastest and biggest developing markets, he said that the number of tourist arrivals to Thailand from India has seen a growth of 10 per cent and 50 per cent for 2002 and 2003, respectively, and currently it stood at 280,000.