Air India expanding bigtime into Bangkok

While I can’t complain about the love of people going to Bangkok for vacations or shopping trips because it is so cheap out there, I’m surprised at this new love Air India has for Bangkok. In December 2017, Air India is adding tonnes of new flights to Bangkok. Let’s have a look.

a group of airplanes on a runway

As per AirlineRoute.net,

Chandigarh – Bangkok eff 11DEC17 3 weekly
AI336 IXC1335 – 1950BKK 32B 35
AI336 IXC1400 – 2015BKK 32B 1

AI337 BKK0540 – 0920IXC 32B 135

Gaya – Bangkok eff 10DEC17 2 weekly
AI338 GAY1535 – 1950BKK 32B 7
AI338 GAY1600 – 2015BKK 32B 4

AI339 BKK0540 – 0715GAY 32B 47

Varanasi – Bangkok eff 12DEC17 2 weekly
AI340 VNS1535 – 2005BKK 32B 2
AI340 VNS1545 – 2015BKK 32B 6

AI341 BKK0540 – 0805VNS 32B 26

Delhi – Bangkok eff 10DEC17 Increase from 1 to 2 daily
AI332 DEL1345 – 1920BKK 788 D
AI334 DEL2300 – 0440+1BKK 32B D

AI333 BKK0850 – 1205DEL 788 D
AI335 BKK2105 – 0025+1DEL 32B 2
AI335 BKK2120 – 0025+1DEL 32B 357
AI335 BKK2125 – 0025+1DEL 32B 146

As we can see, the airline is opening 3 new routes and one new frequency from Delhi with the same A321 Airplane and the same slot at Bangkok (arriving in between 19:50 to 20:15). I appreciate that the flights to Varanasi and Gaya are more to connect the Buddhist connections amongst the two cities.

However, the timings of the new Delhi Bangkok flight at the least foxes me. Air India will send in an A321 to land in Bangkok at 04:40 AM. Unless this is connecting traffic onwards on Thai Airways, who wants to land in at BKK at 04:40 AM. I’ve arrived early in the morning on a connection, and the airport is dead!

What do you make out of Air India’s newfound interest in Bangkok?

About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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Comments

  1. Fleet utilization and airport operations timings at Chandigarh airport. If you notice the plane which departs from DEL makes double routing to BKK before heading finally to DEL.

  2. That is mainly for atar alliance connections… and I personally feel that an alliance of sorts is in works between the two star alliance partners.

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