BANGKOK 5 July 2021: Three Thai Airways International flights landed at Phuket airport on 3 July, bringing in more vaccinated travellers for a quarantine-free stay on the island following its official reopening last Friday, 1 July.
The airline’s chief commercial officer, Nond Kalinta, welcomed passengers travelling on TG923 from Frankfurt to Phuket, the first fully commercial service operated by Thailand’ national airline to the island in more than 15 months.
Throughout the day (3 July), three THAI flights from Europe landed in Phuket: TG923 from Frankfurt, TG953 from Copenhagen and TG933 from Paris. All the flights are direct from Europe.
On 4 July, TG917 from London and TG973 from Zurich landed in Phuket. Around 300 passengers disembarked from the flights. To comply with health regulations, THAI is not selling middle seats to improve social distancing on flights. Airport data shows 1755 international travellers arrived in Phuket on direct flights since the Sandbox began on 1 July.
A press statement released by THAI said it had 1,300 advanced bookings in the system for July, a strong indicator that the Phuket Sandbox campaign will draw vaccinated travellers from Europe despite the tough measures in place. Travellers must book and pay in advance for a 14-day stay in designated hotels under the country’s SHA Plus scheme, buy insurance, obtain a certificate of entry from a Thai embassy and take three RT-PCR Covid-19 tests on arrival and during their stay. If all tests are negative, they can then travel to other destinations in Thailand.
From July to September, THAI plans to operate weekly nonstop flights from five major European cities – Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Paris every Friday and London and Zurich every Saturday. The airline will review its timetable and possibly increase flights during its 2021 winter programme if travel demand remains robust.
