Korean Air opens more routes to Thailand as tourism demand rebounds
Korean Air has announced two more weekly flights from Incheon to Bangkok as tourism demand rebounds to pre-Covid levels.
The extra flights on the Incheon-Don Mueang route are serving high demand from Koreans seeking to escape winter in January and February, said country manager Kim Jongmin.
The airline currently offers five daily flights from Incheon to Bangkok, one from Incheon to Phuket, and two from Incheon to Chiang Mai.
“We can now say our [Thailand] flight schedules have fully recovered from Covid-19 and even increased in frequency,” Kim said.
He added, we also operated during Covid-19 pandemic.
The airline’s Korea-Thailand routes saw a 190% rise in passenger volume last year, driving overall profits to US$11.3 billion – surpassing 2019 levels.
Thailand’s tourism has experienced a sluggish rebound, with revenue still not back at pre-Covid levels. Of the 28 million foreign visitors in 2023, Koreans were third on the list with 1.65 million tourists, behind Malaysia and China. Thailand is popular among Koreans for its urban sightseeing, retreats and golf courses.
Asia-Pacific region air traffic posted the highest yearly growth worldwide in 2023, with a 126.1% rise, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Asean routes
While Thailand remains the dominant market in Southeast Asia for Korean Air, the airline has also increased its flights to Manila and Bali.
It said it expects passenger demand and capacity to fully recover to pre-Covid levels in the first quarter of this year. Long-haul demand is projected to remain robust, and the airline forecasts a revenue boost from tourism demand during the peak winter season. Korean Air will also seek to maximise revenue by resuming routes and increasing capacity to popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia and Japan.
“We have added Incheon-Phu Quoc [Vietnam] routes,” said Kim, adding that Korean Air also operates two flights per week from Incheon to Vientiane with an eye to expanding services to Laos.
Sustainable aviation fuel
Korean Air has signed a deal with Shell to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from 2026 for five years. Last year, it began using SAF for cargo flights.
The airline is also introducing more fuel-efficient aircraft to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The newly introduced A220-300, A321neo and B787-9 reduce carbon emissions per seat by 20-25% compared to existing models with similar capacity, it said.
