The first to land was Asiana Airlines flight OZ747 from Seoul Incheon International Airport. Carrying a total of 180 passengers, the direct flight touched down in Phuket at 9:20pm.
Monchai Tanode, General Manager of Phuket International Airport, assigned duty officer Chotipat Dee Talay to greet the flight and its passengers on arrival. Mr Chotipat was joined in welcoming the flight’s passengers by additional Phuket Airport staff, representatives from Asiana Airlines and Phuket Airport staff overseeing the international communicable disease control checkpoint.
Shortly afterwards JINAIR flight LR015 landed from Seoul Incheon International Airport. The flight, which had a total of 179 passengers on board, landed in Phuket at 9:25pm.
Mr Tanode assigned duty officer Nampol Phalawut to greet the flight and its passengers. Fellow airport staff joined Mr Nampol as well as staff overseeing the international communicable disease control checkpoint.
The resumption of both flights from Seoul is welcome news for Thailand’s tourism sector and that of Phuket in particular after concerns were raised earlier this month that insufficient inbound international flights and surging airfares could hamper recovery efforts following the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said on July 4 that the number of international flights stands at only 30% of the pre-pandemic level, adding that the country should have at least 55% of the airline seat capacity recorded prior to the pandemic if the industry was to be revived successfully.
Many airlines are reluctant to expand their routes or increase frequencies as several global uncertainties threaten profit prospects, including hefty operational costs caused by soaring fuel prices as well as the longer flying time required to avoid the skies above the Russian-Ukraine combat zone.
However, Mr Yuthsak did confirm that Air Canada plans to commence its first direct route from Vancouver to Bangkok with four flights a week using Boeing 787 jets from Dec 1, 2022 until Apr 17, 2023.
Similarly he confirmed that Korean Air had made a commitment to the TAT during its recent visit to Seoul that it would resume flights to Thailand in the fourth quarter.
- Additional reporting by Bangkok Post