THAI’s new route seen as a gateway from East Europe

THAI Airways International hopes its newly launched direct flight to and from Vienna will provide a gateway from Eastern Europe to Asia, CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) and Australia, according to Chonnakarn Akrapreedee, THAI general manager, Austria and Eastern Europe. Due to Bangkok’s central location in Southeast Asia, business and leisure passengers will be able to conveniently connect flights to various destinations throughout Asia, CLMV and Australia on flights operated by THAI and other airlines in its network, Chonnakarn said. Passengers in Asia would find it convenient to access Central and Eastern Europe via the new flight, she said. “We saw the potential of Austria as the gateway to Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia, where we can exchange tourism, trade and investment,” Chonnakarn said. THAI aims for 77% occupancy rate on a capacity of 5,500 seats per month on the new route, she said. She also expects the new route to contribute 5% of total revenue in Europe, but declined to elaborate on the number. Since the inaugural flight on November 16, inbound bookings were above target and bookings for December/January were over 80%, she said. <br/>