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More Phuket to Shanghai flights coming
10th Jan 2023
On Wednesday, January 18, Juneyao Airlines of Shanghai will launch daily flights between Phuket in southern Thailand and Shanghai in China. This comes after the news of Spring airlines also announcing they would be flying this route. The maiden flight will begin nearly three years of direct service between Phuket and the mainland.
China's borders have just reopened, and since China used to be Thailand's most significant source of tourists, Thailand got ready for a big influx of Chinese travellers. But so far, reality hasn't been all that impressive. According to Suksit Suvunditkul, president of the Thai Hotels Association, the number of direct flights and visitors from China has remained low compared to other nations.
If there were a direct daily flight between Phuket and the biggest city in China, more Chinese people would visit the island and spend money there. "Next month is most likely to see a major uptick in Chinese travel to Phuket, particularly travel booked via internet channels," said Suksit.
Chinese travellers need time to renew their travel paperwork because the border has only just opened. Airline service restoration to and from China also requires time.
Before the pandemic, 2,500 flights left the airport every day. On Sunday, the day of China's significant reopening, only 245 foreign planes left Beijing. Yesterday, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul met 269 people on Xiamen Airlines flight MF833 from Xiamen, China. This was the first trip from the mainland to Suvarnabhumi Airport since March 2020. 3,465 travellers from China arrived in Thailand on 15 planes throughout the day.
Just four days after the COVID-19 vaccination was made mandatory again in Thailand, Anutin welcomed the visitors and told them it would no longer be necessary.
Airports of Thailand, which is in charge of Phuket International Airport, has yet to formally announce the new daily direct service between Phuket and Shanghai.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) predicts 300,000 Chinese tourists will come to Thailand in the first quarter of 2023, and between 7 and 10 million will visit the country that year.
In 2022, Thailand will have attracted 11.5 million foreign visitors, above the TAT's goal of 10 million.
