Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has started connecting the South Indian city of Hyderabad with Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, with a daily flight. The airline will compete with Thai Airways on this route as it looks to expand its international presence even further.
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is now offering a non-stop connection between Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD) and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). The airline is not a stranger to Thailand and already operates an extensive network to the country, operating 37 weekly flights from India. Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales at IndiGo, commented,
“We are pleased to commence direct flights between Hyderabad and Bangkok. At IndiGo, it has been our endeavour to bridge the miles between people and their favoured destinations, promoting travel, tourism, as well as economic growth. With the addition of these flights, Hyderabad will be the 6th Indian city with a direct connection to Bangkok on IndiGo. Over the last year, IndiGo has connected Hyderabad with 6 new international cities, raising the overall count to 13 international destinations.”
IndiGo will compete directly on this route with Thai Airways, which also operates a daily Hyderabad-Bangkok service using one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and offering a premium cabin option. IndiGo will have the following schedule for its HYD-BKK service:
|
Flight No. |
Origin |
Destination |
Frequency |
Effective |
Departure |
Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6E 1067 |
Hyderabad |
Bangkok |
Daily |
February 26 |
03:55 |
09:05 |
|
6E 1068 |
Bangkok |
Hyderabad |
Daily |
February 26 |
10:05 |
12:05 |
The India-Thailand is a busy sector, given the popularity of the country with Indians as a tourist destination. As such, all major Indian carriers offer several services daily. Air India operates flights from Delhi to Bangkok and Phuket, as does IndiGo.
Photo: Lalam photography | Shutterstock
Vistara connects Delhi and Mumbai with Bangkok, while SpiceJet operates Bangkok flights from Mumbai and Kolkata. Thai Airways also enjoys a vast India network, flying to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gaya, Hyderabad, and Chennai, among others, while Thai AirAsia also connects Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport with various Indian cities, such as Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Guwahati, and Bengaluru, among others. Per Cirium, there are more than 2,000 return flights between India and Thailand in February alone.
IndiGo commands a massive share of the Indian domestic market but is also on an aggressive international expansion. In recent months, it has started flying between Surat and Dubai (competing directly with Air India Express) and also announced a nonstop flight between Bengaluru and Bali in Indonesia.
It is even planning to expand its dedicated cargo services overseas, with reports suggesting that it could operate such flights to China in the coming days. The airline has acquired Airbus A321 converted freighters for its cargo operations and already operates services to several medium-haul international destinations, in addition to domestic flights.
Photo: BoeingMan777 | Shutterstock
Furthermore, as it anticipates a strong demand in the coming months and to offset the capacity loss due to several of its grounded A320 family of jets, IndiGo is planning to induct around 20 aircraft on short-term leases by April.
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