Indians are travelling to Thailand like never before.
The April-June quarter saw 11.6 lakh passengers travel between India and Thailand (and back) by direct flights between the two countries, shows data released by the regulator DGCA.
Thailand, traditionally a tourism-dependent economy, decided to add Indians to the “visa-free” category effective November 10, 2023, initially until May 2024. This has been further extended until November 11, 2024. With neighbouring Malaysia doing the same and Indian carriers expanding to Central Asia, Indian travellers were spoilt for choice. Ten months into the visa-free regime, how many Indians are visiting Thailand?
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For Indians, Thailand is not only a favoured holiday destination but also a convenient choice due to its proximity, vibrant nightlife and affordability. While numbers for 2024 are awaited, 1.62 million Indians visited Thailand last year, which was fewer than pre-COVID numbers when 1.9 million Indian tourists visited Thailand in 2019. Thailand is heavily dependent on the Chinese market for tourism, which numbered 11 million pre-COVID. China’s slow opening of the economy and outbound tourism led to Thailand, like many others, incentivising the Indian market.
This year, the first half has seen 1.04 million Indian tourists visiting Thailand and the stage is set to cross the 2019 numbers. India is the fourth top source market for tourism in Thailand with the first three being Malaysia, China and South Korea. This may not take us anywhere close to the top three for Thailand but shows the additional foreign trips which Indians are taking and how the visa-free marketing helps attract more tourists.
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How has the aviation sector responded?
Data shared by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, exclusively for HindustanTimes.com, shows that airlines have added 81 weekly frequencies between India and Thailand in November this year as compared to last November, when the visa-free scheme was introduced. There will be 355 weekly frequencies between India and Thailand, come November and will see 64,880 seats each way being deployed.
Sixteen airports in India and three airports in Thailand are part of the connectivity between the two countries. Indian carriers are scheduled to operate 145 weekly frequencies, while Thai carriers are scheduled to operate 185 weekly frequencies each way. The seat split being 25,694 weekly seats by Indian carriers and 38,950 by Thai carriers. The top three carriers are Thai Airways (80 weekly frequencies each way), IndiGo (79 weekly frequencies each way) and Thai AirAsia (68 weekly frequencies each way).
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Air India launched flights to Phuket this year and apart from catering to the Indian nationals, they are timed to cater to European travellers who visit Phuket with a short layover at Delhi. There has long been speculation of more destinations in Thailand being connected by Indian carriers in near future.
Airlines continue to add flights, with Nok Air being the latest as the airline has announced flights to Mumbai this winter. Indian carriers are looking at expanding, however, SpiceJet’s current financial status has meant that the airline holds rights but is not operating all of the flights which it has been granted. Go FIRST which went bust in May last year had a significant presence in Thailand.
Small hubs
Air India’s expansion to Thailand has seen the airline offer more connecting traffic via Delhi. Similarly, Thai carriers Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways try to look for Indian traffic to parts of America, Japan, Australia, Indonesia and China via the two airports at Bangkok. Both Thai Airways and Air India are fellow Star Alliance carriers.
Tail Note
A lot is said about the rivalry of India and China. The ASEAN region has always seen Chinese travellers reach in volumes. Even today, there are three times as many frequencies between Thailand and China as compared to Thailand and India.
In isolation, more Indians are likely to visit Thailand than they ever did. The natural beauty of the beaches, street food, nightlife, ease of access and a tourist-friendly country with limited language barriers is making Thailand a country on the radar for many tourists. In all likelihood the visa-free regime would get further extended beyond November. It will be a bonanza for airlines, though the point of sale remains largely Indian.
