Thailand is anticipating a substantial rise in Chinese tourism come May, as Chinese airlines plan to increase the number of flights to the country. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), Chinese airlines have requested permission to raise flights to Thailand from 100 per week to 430 per week starting on June 1.
This is welcome news for the Thai tourism industry, which has suffered greatly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. China ranks as Thailand’s primary source of foreign tourists, accounting for roughly 28% of the 39 million arrivals in 2019. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions and border closures, the number of Chinese tourists shrunk by 83% last year.
The director of the CAAT, Suthipong Kongpool, revealed that his administration recently held a meeting with Chinese airlines to discuss their summer season request for additional flights. The meeting resulted in an initial agreement to increase the number of weekly flights to 430. Kongpool stated that the volume of international flights is on the rise, especially from China. Nevertheless, due to the limited capacity of current flight schedules, the CAAT can only grant 10%-20% of flight requests at the moment.
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