Thai AirAsia To Start Japan Flights

Credit: Macky Albor / Alamy Stock Photo

Thai AirAsia plans to launch its first flights to Japan in October, connecting Thailand’s capital with Fukuoka, the largest city on the island of Kyushu.

The LCC will open a 3X-weekly route between Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK) and Fukuoka (FUK) from Oct. 12, flying on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using a 236-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft. A fourth flight per week will start on Oct. 30 when the days of operation will change to Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

“Japan is a top leisure favourite destination for Thai travelers, with many intent on visiting the country as soon as it reopens to tourism,” Thai AirAsia CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya said. “Fukuoka might not be the first city that comes to mind for people thinking of visiting Japan, but anyone who experiences it, is sure to be deeply impressed.”

The latest schedules provided by OAG show that Thai VietJet offers four flights per week between Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Fukuoka. Thai Airways International also intends to resume daily BKK-FUK flights in mid-October having suspended the route in March 2020.

The launch of Thai AirAsia’s will add 1,440 two-way weekly seats to the Bangkok-Fukuoka market by early November.

The carrier is operating 33 domestic routes and 25 international services at the present time, providing 251,000 weekly seats across its network. This compares with 506,000 weekly seats at this time in 2019.

David Casey

David Casey is Editor in Chief of Routes, the global route development community's trusted source for news and information.