From Pattaya Mail

A high-level delegation from IndiGo Airlines, India’s largest passenger airline, visited U-Tapao Pattaya-Rayong International Airport on Friday, December 15, to explore opportunities for cooperation and partnership with the airport and the local tourism authorities.

The delegation was led by Navaid Desai, General Manager of Customer Relations at IndiGo Airlines, and Natsuda Mettaprasert, Thai Deputy Consul in India. They were accompanied by Thitiphan Petchtrakul, Deputy Mayor of Pattaya, and Urai Mukpradapthong, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Pattaya Office.

They were invited and hosted by Admiral Sitthichai Tangjai, the Director of U-Tapao Pattaya-Rayong International Airport to facilitate discussions on potential collaboration between the airline and the airport, fostering mutual confidence and enhancing services for international tourists, particularly those from the Indian subcontinent.

The participants engaged in discussions about strategic partnerships between IndiGo Airlines and the airport, exploring avenues for improved air travel services and joint initiatives to attract Indian tourists to the vibrant Pattaya region. They also observed the facilities ready for the influx of Indian tourists booking to visit Thailand under the visa-free campaign.

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Visa-free Indians are flocking to Thailand

By Barry Kenyon

The experiment to cancel visas for Indian nationals is bearing more fruit than the similar relaxation for Chinese citizens. Whereas the Chinese seem concerned by media reports that Thailand is unsafe, Indians are flocking here even though airfare costs can be almost double those of the pre-covid era. Rajesh Magow, founder of MakeMyTrip, said the traveller bonus from Indian visa relaxation was at least 30 percent.

Air India has already announced flights from Delhi to Phuket which will be daily from the new year. Charter flights from several Indian cities, such as Mumbai and Hyderabad, to U-tapao airport, near Pattaya, are also under discussion with IndiGo the low-cost airline. The tourist authority of Thailand expects to see 1.6 million Indian tourists in 2023 with around double that number in 2024.

A limiting factor is that Indian airlines are short of aircraft to deploy on new routes to Thailand. Airlines may be unhappy to add too much capacity lest visa-free travel is not renewed on expiry in May 2024 which could exclude the peak summer holiday period. Moreover, Thailand in 2024 will have to compete with Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, all of which have beaches as well as different attractions.