MUMBAI- IndiGo Airlines (6E) and Thai Airways (TG) have dominated the Indo-Thai Market for years and are now facing competition from new entrants like Air India Express (IX) and AirAsia Group carriers.
The India and Thailand aviation market has always been looked upon as a country for leisure travelers and it’s somewhat true. Both countries have shown remarkable growth post-pandemic.
Many Indian and Thai carriers have added more flights, and new routes, and opened up unexplored destinations. In today’s special data-driven article we will dive deeper into seats served by both country’s carriers between Indian cities and Thai cities.
Flights between India and Thailand
The data is shared by the Indian Aviation Guy exclusively to Aviation A2Z for this article. Make sure to check out their X or Twitter page.
Currently, India is well connected with Thailand’s three major airports i.e. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Don Mueang Airport (DMK) in Bangkok, and Phuket International Airport (HKT).
We will compare the seats before 2024 and seats added in 2024 to show you the tremendous progress made this year in the Indo-Thai market.
Let’s start with Suvarnabhumi, the primary airport of Bangkok.
Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
Before 2024, Thai Airways (TG) served 7 Indian cities from Bangkok, and here’s the table showing these cities and seats deployed:
| City | Seats Deployed |
|---|---|
| Delhi | 6643 |
| Mumbai | 2754 |
| Bengaluru | 2247 |
| Hyderabad | 1848 |
| Chennai | 1848 |
| Kolkata | 1218 |
| Ahmedabad | 1218 |
Thai Airways continues to serve these cities, but it has added four new cities in 2024 and they are:
| City | Seats Deployed |
|---|---|
| Kochi | 1176 |
| Gaya | 1176 |
| Hyderabad | 196 |
| Chennai | 196 |
Similarly, IndiGo used to connect Bangkok with Four Indian cities:
| City | Seats Deployed |
|---|---|
| Delhi | 1302 |
| Mumbai | 1302 |
| Bengaluru | 1302 |
| Kolkata | 1302 |
It continues to serve them and added more flights to another four cities:
| City | Seats Deployed |
|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 1302 |
| Chennai | 1302 |
| Kolkata | 744 |
| Pune | 558 |
Air India (AI) and SpiceJet (SG) also served this route before 2024 and VietJet (VJ) and Air India Express (IX) operate flights to and from Bangkok in 2024. You can see a complete analysis of other carriers on the Indian Aviation Guy X page.
Don Mueang Airport (DMK)
Neither IndiGo nor Thai Airways operates flights to DMK.
DMK is served by three Thai carriers, Nok Air (DD), Thai Lion Air (SL), and Thai Air Asia (FD) before 2024.
In 2024, Don Mueang has seen rapid growth and AirAsia X also serves it. Four carriers now operate flights from 12 Indian destinations to DMK.
This can be one of the big unserved destinations for Indian carriers.
Phuket Airport (HKT)
IndiGo was the sole carrier operating flights to Phuket before 2024. Thai Airways remains absent in this sector.
IndiGo deployed 1302 seats each from Delhi and Mumbai to Phuket. However, the landscape has changed with three carriers joining the sector and they are Air India, SpiceJet, and AirAsia (AK).
The largest Indian low-cost carrier has also connected two new cities i.e. Bengaluru and Kolkata with Phuket in 2024.
Airlines Serving Indo-Thai Market
Now let us summarize the post with which airlines are serving the Indo-Thai market and how many seats they have deployed:
| Airline | Seats Before 2024 | Seats Added (2024) | Total Seats | % Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiGo | 7812 | 8928 | 16740 | 117% |
| Thai Air Asia | 8016 | 3906 | 11922 | 49% |
| Thai Lion Air | 2079 | 3591 | 5670 | 173% |
| Thai Airways | 17776 | 2744 | 20520 | 15% |
| Air India | 6034 | 2268 | 8302 | 38% |
| Nok Air | 567 | 1512 | 2079 | 267% |
| Air Asia X | 0 | 1508 | 1508 | 1323% |
| Air India Express | 0 | 2646 | 2646 | 2646% |
| SpiceJet | 2646 | 1323 | 3969 | 50% |
| Thai VietJet | 0 | 1260 | 1260 | 1260% |
| Total | 44930 | 29686 | 74616 | 64% |
Thai Airways remains pretty stagnant. On the other hand, IndiGo has more than doubled its presence with new routes and more flights.
Both Air India Express and Air Asia X have shown tremendous growth as new entrants.
Indian Cities Connected to Thailand
There are 15 Indian Cities connected to three Thai cities. Here’s the table showing seats deployed and growth:
| City | # Before 2024 | # Seats Added | # Total (2024) | % Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 14154 | 6401 | 20555 | 45% |
| Mumbai | 9131 | 3885 | 13016 | 43% |
| Kolkata | 5103 | 3918 | 9021 | 80% |
| Bengaluru | 5565 | 1302 | 6867 | 23% |
| Chennai | 3108 | 2812 | 5920 | 90% |
| Hyderabad | 2415 | 2431 | 4846 | 101% |
| Kochi | 1260 | 1743 | 3003 | 138% |
| Ahmedabad | 1962 | 942 | 2904 | 48% |
| Gaya | 558 | 1176 | 1734 | 211% |
| Pune | 0 | 1125 | 1125 | 1125% |
| Surat | 0 | 756 | 756 | 756% |
| Amritsar | 0 | 1512 | 1512 | 1512% |
| Visakhapatnam | 0 | 558 | 558 | 558% |
| Tiruchirappalli | 0 | 558 | 558 | 558% |
| Lucknow | 744 | 567 | 1311 | 76% |
Amritsar, Pune, and Surat have shown remarkable growth as new entrants. While some major metro cities show 1.5x and 2x growth.
Thailand to Indian Cities
| City | Before 2024 | Seats Added | Total (2024) | % Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket | 2604 | 10659 | 13263 | 409% |
| Bangkok (BKK) | 31664 | 9233 | 40897 | 29% |
| Don Mueang | 18812 | 8567 | 27379 | 46% |
Phuket, the new booming destination has shown stupendous growth of over 400%. This means more Indians want to fly to Phuket than any other city in Thailand. However, Bangkok remains a dominant city with more than 40,000 seats.
Feature Image by Clément Alloing | Flickr
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