Thai Airways is in crisis but preparing to bring tourists back to Phuket (but not from Milan)

La Thailand Is determined to reopen. Or rather, Phuket is. The Tourism Authority sent a letter to all its industry partners to confirm how the opening of the so-called "Phuket Sandbox" is still set for July 1.

Here, then, is the Thai national airline, the Thai Airways, has decided to implement flights with Europe by opening four new direct connections. Direct because, for the time being, European tourists will only be able to vacation in Phuket (Bangkok, Koh Samui and the rest of the country remain closed).

Thai Airways, the new routes between Phuket and Europe.

Thai Airways has put the following six routes on sale for summer 2021 (remember that, our summer, for Thailand is low season):

• Copenhagen - Phuket, once a week from July 2 to September 24 aboard an A350-900
• Delhi - Phuket, twice weekly from July 2 to Sept. 26 aboard an A350-900
• Frankfurt - Phuket, once a week from July 2 to Oct. 1 aboard a B777-300ER
• Hong Kong - Phuket, once a week from July 2 to Sept. 24 aboard an A350-900
• London Heathrow - Phuket, once a week from July 3 to September 25 aboard a B777-300ER
• Paris Charles De Gaulle - Phuket, once a week from July 2 to Sept. 24 aboard a B777-300ER

In the past, Thai Airways offered direct connections to Phuket only from Delhi, Hong-Kong, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt. The latter, launched in 2016, was reduced to winter only in 2019. And only in the cold season could one fly from Copenhagen as well. So here are the Italians who want to spend their vacations in Phuket, they can do so now by taking advantage of one of the many low-cost flights to these two cities. Or, they can fly to London or Paris and from there board a direct Thai flight.

However, the flight is direct only on the outward journey. On the return, to whichever European destination you are flying to, you must make a stopover in Bangkok.

Will the borders reopen, then? Apparently so. Especially since, To Thailand, travel for tourism from Italy is permitted. Along with Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United States, the Asian country is currently placed in Group D. Until July 30, it is therefore possible to travel to Thailand as long as one undergoes a swab in the 72 hours prior to return, which must have been negative. The 10-day fiduciary isolation is currently still required, with an additional swab starting on day 11.

The company's crisis

The pandemic has rocked the world of travel and air travel. As early as last February, Thai Airways announced a plan to lay off 395 pilots, with no plans for new hires in the near future. And it had begun thinking about grounding much of its fleet between Airbus A330-300, A380 and Boeing 747, After auctioning off 34 used aircraft in late 2020.

Thus, the company's crisis is evident, as is its hope to restart, starting right from Phuket.

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