Thai Airways direct flights welcomed in Brisbane

11/08/2009

Brisbane Airport Corporation Pty Limited (BAC) has welcomed today’s announcement from Thai Airways to fly direct non-stop from Brisbane to Bangkok return starting 25 October 2009.

The change will see the existing Sydney stopover dropped from the route, providing passengers with more time in their destination and less time travelling.

BAC CEO and Managing Director Julieanne Alroe congratulated Thai Airways on the direct non-stop route.

“Direct services such as these make it easier for Queenslanders wishing to travel overseas, and it also encourages overseas travellers to visit our sunshine state, helping to boost our tourism industry,” Ms Alroe said.

“Distance, travel time and cost are strong battles our Australian tourism industry has to face, however, non-stop flights such as the revised Thai Airways service will help to make the region closer, and more attractive to overseas tourists than ever before.

“This is a major vote of confidence from Thai Airways in Queensland’s ability to draw visitors from around the globe,” she said.

The Bangkok – Brisbane – Bangkok service will also boast a new B777-200 aircraft, with improvements to Thai Airways’ onboard products including seat back in-flight entertainment systems for all passengers and lie flat beds in business class.

A middle of the day arrival and departure times has been chosen for Brisbane so as to provide seamless connections at Bangkok to Thai’s European, Asian and Middle East services.

Brisbane Airport currently has more passengers flying through than every before, with more than 19 million passengers flying through the airport in the last financial year, breaking Brisbane Airport’s passenger record and defying the economic downturn.

“Thai Airways has been flying through Brisbane for 27 years, and it is successful airlines of this caliber who continue to improve services and products that have made our airport so well-positioned to deal with the economic climate,” Ms Alroe said.

“Brisbane Airport congratulates Thai Airways helping to open Queensland to the world and we look forward to further growing our strong relationship for the benefit of our passengers in the future.”

Ends