Thai Airways International launches New Route from Bangkok to Bangalore

Thai Airways International has launched a new route between Bangkok and Bangalore, India.

Mr. Kanok Abhiradee, THAI's President, said that the new route aims to meet the growing demand of the expanding trade in India which is considered as the second biggest developing market after China. The number of tourist arrivals from India to Thailand is expected to grow from an average of 280,000 arrivals a year, which previously experienced a 10% increase in 2002 and a 50% increase in 2003. Market growth potential of India accounts for buying demand of approximately 300 million Indian tourists and the Government has established a policy to open the free trade area aimed to expand the investment between the two countries up to 2,000 million USD within 5 years.

THAI now operates four weekly flights on the route Bangkok-Bangalore v.v. every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, utilizing Airbus 300-600 aircraft with a configuration of 247 seats; 46 seats in Business Class and 201 seats in Economy Class. Flight TG 325 departs Bangkok at 19.20 hrs and arrives Bangalore at 21.20 hrs (local time). Return flight TG 326 departs Bangalore at 22.30 hrs (local time) and arrives in Bangkok at 03.50 hrs on the following day.

Apart from the Bangkok - Bangalore route, THAI, currently also operates flights from Bangkok to another four destinations in India, namely Delhi served with seven weekly flights; Kolkata served with three weekly flights every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday; Mumbai (Bombay) served with three weekly flights on every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; and Chennai served with four weekly flights every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

To celebrate the new destination, THAI is offering special bonus mileage points for Royal Orchid Plus members. ROP members who fly THAI flights on the route Bangkok-Bangalore v.v. on any class until 31 May 2004 will receive double mileage points per sector.

Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka State situated in Southern India and is currently the country's fifth largest city covering an area of 450 square kilometres. With a population of 6.5 million speaking Kannada and English, Bangalore is India's Information Technology Centre and is called the country's Silicon Valley. The weather is the city's best feature with pleasant summers and bearable winters. The city is the main link in Southern India with connections to other major cities and acquires numbers of tourist attractions such as the Botanical Garden, Parliament House, Government Museum, Bull Temple, Bangalore Palace, Bidhana Soudha, and Cubbon Park.