A Thai official gives a garland to Chinese tourists as they arrive at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn province, Thailand, on January 9, 2023. Photo: VCG

Shanghai-based Juneyao Air and Spring Airlines restarted flights to Thailand on Wednesday. Demand was strong instantly, and the flights were nearly full on the first day.

It was the first batch of international scheduled passenger flights by Chinese airlines to Thailand since the COVID-19 outbreak, offering a sign of recovery for the outbound travel market.

The first route was from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Chiang Mai in Thailand. The Juneyao Air flight carried 201 passengers, nearly 99 percent of its load factor. The next route was from Shanghai Pudong to Phuket in Thailand.

In the first week when the flights resumed, the average passenger load factor on the two routes exceeded 80 percent, said Juneyao Air, adding that with the increasing popularity of outbound travel, passenger demand is set to recover.

Juneyao Air said it plans to increase the number of flights from Shanghai to Phuket to 10 flights per week in the near future, and it will continue to make efforts to cover the route network in Thailand. Flights on the Shanghai Pudong-Bangkok route will be increased from one per week to seven per week.

The carrier said it will continue to increase the Shanghai Pudong to Bangkok route to 8 flights per week depending on the market and passenger demand.

On the same day, Shanghai-based Spring Airlines also resumed regular flights from Shanghai to Phuket after three years' suspension. The first flight had 181 passengers on board with a load factor of 97 percent.

Spring Airlines told the Global Times that it had four direct flights from Shanghai to Phuket every day before the epidemic, and it will step up the resumption of flights between China and Thailand.

At present, the routes to Thailand operated by Spring Airlines include Shanghai to Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai; Guangzhou to Bangkok and Chiang Mai; and from Nanning in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Bangkok.

Thailand on January 9 welcomed the arrival of thousands of Chinese tourists in Bangkok, the first group following China's optimization of its COVID-19 strategy, which took effect on January 8. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials attended a welcome ceremony for Chinese tourists at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Global Times