Air Chief Marshal Manat Chuwanaprayoon, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), said the agency has been closely monitoring ticket prices during peak travel periods and has coordinated with airlines to ensure fares remain “appropriate and fair”.
The measures will apply to travel between Apr 10-15, covering the peak of the Songkran Festival, when domestic travel demand surges nationwide.
CAAT has worked with six airlines ‒ Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet ‒ to reduce ticket prices by 15-30% on 11 popular routes.
The discounted routes include Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Samui, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Surat Thani, Krabi, Trang, Narathiwat and Khon Kaen.
In addition to price cuts, airlines have expanded capacity to meet demand. Bangkok Airways has added 24 extra flights on the Samui route, providing an additional 1,680 seats.
Meanwhile, Thai Airways has upgraded some services to wide-body aircraft, including Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 787-8 jets, adding a further 1,428 seats.
Despite the intervention, CAAT acknowledged that external pressures continue to impact airline operating costs.
Ongoing conflict in the Middle East has driven jet fuel prices up by more than 100% compared with February levels, a factor that would typically push airfares higher.
Nevertheless, ACM Manat confirmed that the discounted fares will remain in place throughout the Songkran travel window.
CAAT’s assessment found that the cheapest tickets have already been largely sold out due to strong demand. Prices are expected to ease again in the latter part of April once the holiday travel rush subsides.
Checks conducted today (Mar 25) indicate that fares on the busy Bangkok–Phuket route remain elevated ahead of the festival, before dropping significantly afterwards. One-way tickets with Thai Airways were priced at about B3,700 before Songkran, compared with around B2,600 after. Bangkok Airways fares were about B3,630 before the holiday, falling to roughly B2,500 afterwards.
Budget carriers showed mixed trends. Thai AirAsia fares were about B1,600 before Songkran and slightly higher at B1,800 after, while Thai Lion Air tickets dropped from about B1,800 to B1,300. Thai Vietjet fares showed the sharpest decline, falling from around B2,900 before the holiday to about B1,300 afterwards. Nok Air prices eased from roughly B1,800 to B1,400.
CAAT said the measures reflect cooperation across the aviation sector to ensure passengers can travel conveniently, safely and at reasonable cost during one of Thailand’s busiest annual holidays.