Fresh from launching its first regular service to Chiang Mai and on course to connect to U-tapao next month, Qatar Airways will further raise the Thai profile in its global network.
Al Baker: Here to stay in Chiang Mai
The Qatari flag carrier will make its fifth Bangkok-Doha daily flight, which is only in service in the winter programme (late Oct to March 30), a permanent year-round service starting in the 2018 summer plan (April-October).
The carrier will upgrade its newly-launched Doha-Chiang Mai service, operating on a seasonal basis from Dec 12, 2017 until May 2018, to be year-round after that.
Qatar chief executive Akbar Al Baker told the Bangkok Post in Chiang Mai that the move underscores the airline's confidence in its Thailand-Qatar traffic outlook.
He also reconfirmed the inauguration of the airline's fifth non-stop route between Thailand and Qatar, Doha-U-tapao, on Jan 28, 2018.
When asked if the airline's Doha-Chiang Mai service is sustainable given seasonal demand, Mr Al Baker said the airline will soon seek to ramp up frequency on the route, now at four flights a week, to a daily basis. There are further plans to go twice daily when demand becomes stronger.
"Qatar is not going to stop (operating in Chiang Mai). We are here to stay and if there is a strong growth we will launch more frequencies," he said.
With Chiang Mai and U-tapao, Qatar will have more connections with Thailand than its Gulf rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways, both of which concentrate on serving Bangkok from their home bases in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
With the planned ramp-up of frequencies outlined by Mr Al Baker, Qatar may lead the Gulf carriers' in seat capacity offerings on the Thailand-Middle East connection.
On its Bangkok-Doha route, Qatar operates four types of widebody aircraft: Airbus A380 superjumbo (one flight a day), Boeing 777-300ER (three a day) and Boeing 787-8 or Airbus A340 (one a day).
Qatar's Chiang Mai service raises the airline's total weekly frequency to Thailand to 60 flights a week, flying 35 times a week to Bangkok, 14 times a week to Phuket and daily service to Krabi.
The Qatar chief did not rule out serving other destinations in Thailand.
"If there are other opportunities with good passenger flows then we will consider it," he said, but declined to name the potential cities.
But he said that congestion and slot constraints at major Thai airports like Suvarnabhumi should be kept in check to support Qatar's growing footprint.
"I hope these airports are not too congested to support our expansion and feed more passengers from our network to Thailand,'' he said.
U-tapao near Pattaya will be the 27th destination in the Far East served by Qatar, with four flights a week on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy.
