Ahmedabad, 15 March 2013

Thai Airways International will connect Ahmedabad and Bangkok through direct and non-stop flights twice-a-week from March 31 to cater to leisure and business travelers from the country.

The flights on the Ahmedabad-Bangkok-Ahmedabad route will be operated on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The flight from Ahmedabad will depart at 23.59 from Ahmedabad and after 4.51 hours journey it will reach Bangkok at 6.20 next day. On return journey the flight will leave Bangkok at 19.30 and after five hours journey it will reach Ahmedabad at 23.00.

The airliner said it will review its Ahmedabad-Bangkok-Ahmedabad service in the next three months and could make it thrice-a-week.

Thai Airways will also revise the current, introductory fare of Rs 17,425 per person in economy class, on this route( as per the Thai Smile website, the return fare is around Rs 28,000 for one person traveling in economy class ).

The new service will be operated by Thai Smile, a sub-brand of Thai International. Even as a budget airline, Thai Smile will provide all the services of Thai Airways, the airlines official said.

The twice-a-week flight will be operated by new Airbus 320 with a capacity of 168 seats, and 12 seats in Thai Smile Plus (business class) category.

According to Korakot Chatasingha, General Manager of Thai Airways, close to 80% of the travelers are in the leisure category while the remaining 20% are in the business category.

50 per cent of air traffic from Ahmedabad to Thailand was, at present, going through Mumbai. With a direct flight from and to Ahmedabad, Thai Airways expected to increase this traffic.

The plan to have air connectivity between Ahmedabad and Bangkok was announced during the concluding ceremony of the Vibrant Gujarat summit of 2013, held in January this year.