Air traffic to Bangkok rises but still trails pre-pandemic levels despite visa-free entry boost

MUMBAI: MUMBAI: Visa-free Thailand has become a significant focus for airlines, with many carriers launching or adding flights to Bangkok this winter. Thai AirAsiaX launched flights from Delhi on Monday. Vietjet Thailand will launch flights from Mumbai next Monday, and Air India Express will launch flights from Surat and Pune this week. Despite the new flights, air traffic hasn't surpassed the pre-pandemic mark.
From Mumbai, for instance, airlines have scheduled 54 flights per week to Bangkok (all airports) in December, slightly short of the 56 flights per week operated in December 2019, but more than the 46 flights per week in December last year. Though flight volumes haven’t crossed the pre-COVID mark, passenger volumes have. Arrivals from India crossed the 2-million mark this year, surpassing the pre-pandemic number of 1.96 million in 2019, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. In 2023, Indian tourist arrivals recovered to 1.6 million.
So how does Bangkok compare with Dubai, the busiest international route out of Mumbai? It's nowhere close. Airlines have scheduled 54 departures per week to Bangkok this December, while to Dubai, it's 108 departures per week, according to data from the Mumbai airport. Unlike Bangkok, the majority of passengers on Dubai flights are transit passengers flying onwards to Africa, Europe, and the US. The second busiest route out of Mumbai is Abu Dhabi, with 63 departures per week. Bangkok compares to London, the third busiest route out of Mumbai, with 56 departures per week scheduled in December.