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BANGKOK – Seven international airlines will operate direct flights to Phuket in southern Thailand from July, bringing foreign tourists to the resort island, with the Thai government accepting visitors vaccinated against COVID-19 without quarantine.
Thai Airways International will focus on welcoming holidaymakers from five European cities. Flights from Paris; Frankfurt, Germany; and Copenhagen in Phuket will begin on July 2, according to the national airline’s commercial director, Nond Kalinta. Flights from London and Zurich will resume the next day.
British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates and El Al of Israel will operate flights to Phuket from July, according to Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Thailand is set to conduct a “sandbox experiment” from July 1, using Phuket as a proving ground to accommodate foreign visitors who have been vaccinated. Tourists with proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result can start their vacation immediately without locking themselves in a hotel room, as visitors from other parts of Thailand are required to do. .
Travelers must be fully immunized for at least 14 days prior to departure and show a negative test result within 72 hours of boarding their flight. If a mandatory test on the fifth day of their stay is negative, they will be allowed to take a day trip off the island.
Major airlines hope to attract a large influx of foreign travelers to Phuket as part of the government’s pilot reopening program to maintain their routes cost-effectively. © Reuters
The success of the experiment is crucial for Thailand, as it will demonstrate the ability of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy to balance public health and foster economic recovery.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand anticipates the arrival of 129,000 foreign visitors during the first three months of the experiment. If the program goes well, vaccinated tourists will be allowed to travel to places such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, starting in October, and nationwide in 2022.
Lack of tourists was the main reason Thailand’s economy shrank 6.1% in 2020. Tourism and related businesses accounted for one-fifth of Thailand’s gross domestic product in pre-COVID times. Thailand’s tourism industry has high hopes that the experience will help revive the sector.
Representatives from several travel agencies in Thailand told Nikkei Asia that the pilot program is attracting great interest among European travelers, many of whom typically spend weeks during the summer at tropical resorts.
Many in the industry feared the experiment could be postponed due to a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that the kingdom has been battling since March. More than 2,000 cases a day have been reported since mid-May. However, on Tuesday the cabinet gave the interim green light to begin the reopening program in July, suggesting that the current level of local infections will not prevent the government from carrying out the experiment.
About 400,000 people, or more than 60% of the people of Phuket, have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects Singapore Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Taiwan’s EVA Air, Korean Air, its budget subsidiary Jin Air and Franco-Dutch airline KLM to join the seven participating airlines soon.
It is imperative for airlines to attract a strong influx of foreign tourists to Phuket to maintain their routes profitably. This is especially true for cash-strapped companies like Thai Airways, which is currently undergoing court-supervised rehabilitation. Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court is due to rule on June 15 on whether or not to approve a rehabilitation plan submitted by the airline.
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