China Airlines | Flight and Routing Updates

[Sundance2020]

Flights from Taiwan to Thailand



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[Tripadvisor]

China Airlines - Routing to Chiang Mai

China Airlines yesterday announced the good news that it intends to launch flights to Chiang Mai in Thailand. The bad news is that it won’t happen until next year. The Taiwan-based airline revealed on the day it reopened its borders that flights to the northern city of Chiang Mai take off on January 20.2023

• Flight CI851 from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Chiang Mai will take off at 7.50 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and arrives 11:00 am
• From Chiang Mai, flight CI852 departs at noon and arrives in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5:00 pm.

The state-owned flag carrier revealed the flight to Chiang Mai is part of the airline’s plan to attract more transit passengers to change flights in Taiwan on their way to Europe and the United States. The airline also revealed that the number of its flights will increase by 30%, with those to Southeast Asia increased by 50% in the final quarter of this year. China Airlines added that in early 2023 there will 17 destinations will be available in Southeast Asia, including flights to Cebu in the Philippines, Bali, Australia and New Zealand.

Sydney to Taipei and Melbourne to Taipei will be increased from their current two flights a week to three flights a week in October and November and four times a week in December. Brisbane to Taipei increases from one flight a week to three starting next month while a flight to Auckland will be added to the Brisbane service every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday between October and December 2022. The flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all feature the modern Airbus A350.

[Sundance2020]

Kunming-Bangkok flight third relaunched flight from China Eastern

China Eastern Yunnan Airlines launched its third flight route between China and Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand just put out a welcome announcement. The flight will bring Chinese tourists from the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming to Bangkok.

Kunming is the capital of the Yunnan province and the TAT’s local Kunming made the announcement today welcoming the new route, though the inaugural flight landed at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport on December 2. The first flight departed from Changshui Kunming International Airport with 40 travellers from Yunnan, Henan, Ningxia, Shandong, and Sichuan provinces. The Kunming TAT reported that the 40 passengers on the first flight were a mixture of business travellers, students, and people who had relatives in Thailand that they were travelling to visit.

Though China maintains strict lockdown measures and limits on its citizens travelling internationally, the country is Thailand’s most courted tourism demographic and as such, it was included in the list of 63 countries where fully vaccinated travellers can enter Thailand without a quarantine. Chinese travellers can come to Thailand using the Test & Go program that just requires tourists to book 1 night in an SHA+ approved hotel while waiting for an RT-PCR Covid-19 test to come back negative.

The TAT reminded that Thailand is now open for more people around the world, even outside of the 63 approved nations and even those who are not yet vaccinated. The Living in the Blue Zone Sandbox plan allows fully vaccinated travellers to enter popular tourist areas with a one-week soft quarantine in the Sandbox area. And for those unvaccinated, Thailand offers the Happy Quarantine scheme that requires 10 to 14 day quarantine before allowing people to travel.

[Sundance2020]

China Southern Airlines Network



News breaking yesterday that China Southern Airlines is planning to resume flights to Bangkok signals more good news for the Thailand tourism industry aiming to attract another 12 million foreign travellers before the end of the year. In 2019 more than 12 Million Chinese tourists travelled to Thailand, making up one-quarter of the kingdom’s foreign arrivals.There had been a year-on-year increase from 2016, (8.76 Million), 2017 (9.81 Million), 2018 (10.54 Million), and 2019 (12 Million), but the Covid-19 pandemic cut the legs off any tourists visiting the Land of Smiles. China Southern Airlines revealed it will resume services to Bangkok, Tokyo, Jakarta, Dubai, and Manila among other destinations at the end of the month, according to Bangkok Post.

But that’s not all. China Eastern Airlines announced on Weibo that it will operate 108 international flights a week from October 30.2022 on 42 routes, including Tokyo, Seoul, and Dubai, up from 54 flights and 25 routes now. Air China resumed services in late September from several Chinese cities to Manila, Jakarta, Tokyo, Athens, Vancouver, and Los Angeles.

Hainan Airlines said on Saturday, October 15, that it would add a second weekly flight between Chongqing and Rome from November 6.2022 The announcements will come as a breath of fresh air to both Thailand and frustrated Chinese tourists unable to travel for the best part of three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Xi Jinping, in his opening speech at China’s 20^th Party Congress in Beijing on Sunday, revealed that the mainland is still committed to a zero-Covid policy. But there appears to be a relaxing of border controls. In June, China cut hotel quarantine time for arrivals to seven days, plus three days at home.

China Southern shares rose to 3.6% in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning, while China Eastern added as much as 5.6% and Air China jumped 5.1%. Beijing Capital International Airport Co advanced by 3.1%. For now, flights in and out of China remain at about 95% below pre-Covid levels, according to data provider VariFlight.

[Nightrider]

Flights between Shanghai and Phuket, Guangzhou and Chiang Mai resume

Flights between Shanghai and Phuket, and Guangzhou and Chiang Mai, will resume this month says Shanghai-based Spring Airlines. The budget airline also revealed that flights from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and Taipei, will also be relaunched in January while the resumption of flights between the metropolis and Singapore is being considered. Another Shangai-based airline, Juneyao Air, announced late last month that it will resume its flights between Shanghai and Chiang Mai on Wednesday, January 18, adding more flights to other outbound destinations likely to resume.

Meanwhile, international online travel agency Trip.com reported a 254% increase in flight bookings from China late last month in response to the Chinese mainland’s decision to reopen its borders. Trip.com said flights for Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, immediately catapulted them into the top five tourist destinations following Beijing’s relaxation of its restrictions. Singapore saw the greatest increase in flight bookings, with a six-fold increase while the other four destinations experienced an average 400% increase in airline ticket orders.

Based on online searches for outbound flights, the most popular cities of departure in China are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. The increased demand for international travel is also reflected in an increase in interest from overseas tourists wanting to visit China.

According to data from Trip.com, bookings for inbound flights to China on December 27 increased by 412% compared to the same period on December 26. The top countries of origin for inbound travellers were Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong SAR. These countries were the largest sources of inbound travellers. Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, reckons the move would create enormous opportunities for both the Chinese inbound and outbound travel markets.

“As one of the first tourism companies to tap into the international market, Trip.com Group provides outstanding global one-stop services. But, of course, opportunities always come with challenges. While rapidly expanding our global network, Trip.com Group is also preparing for the added pressure on the service system expected to be brought about by the demand increase. We are confident that we can supply Chinese travellers unable to travel the world for three years with a safe and enjoyable trip.”

[Wasabi]

Daily direct flights between Phuket and Shanghai

Daily flights between Phuket in southern Thailand and Shanghai in China will takeoff next Wednesday, January 18, 2023 operated by Shanghai’s Juneyao Airlines.

China reopened its borders yesterday, and given that China was once Thailand’s top tourism market, Thailand braced itself for an influx of Chinese tourists. But the reality has been underwhelming so far. President of the Thai Hotels Association Suksit Suvunditkul told the Bangkok Post that the number of direct flights and tourists from China remained small compared to other countries.

A daily direct service between Phuket and China’s most populous city is bound to propel Chinese tourists to travel to the island and pump their yuan into the local economy. Chinese tourism to Phuket – especially that booked through online platforms – is most likely to revive significantly next month, added Suksit.

The border has only just opened and Chinese tourists need time to update their travel documents. Airlines also need time to revive services to and from China. On Sunday – China’s grand reopening – 245 international flights departed from Beijing, compared to 2,500 daily flights from the airport in pre-pandemic China.

Yesterday, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed 269 passengers on Xiamen Airlines flight MF833 from Xiamen in China – the first flight from the mainland to Suvarnabhumi Airport since March 2020. Over the course of the day, 3,465 passengers from China flew into Thailand on 15 flights. After welcoming the tourists, Anutin announced the immediate removal of Thailand’s reinstated Covid-19 vaccine entry requirement, just four days after the measure was revived.

Airports of Thailand, which operates Phuket International Airport, is yet to officially announce the new daily direct service between Phuket and Shanghai. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects 300,000 Chinese to holiday in Thailand in the first quarter of 2023 and 7 – 10 million to arrive over the course of the year. In 2022, Thailand welcomed 11.5 million international arrivals, surpassing the TAT’s target of 10 million.

[Sundance2020]

Sichuan, Hainan, Southern and China Airlines Flight to Phuket

From January 19.2023 onwards, China Eastern Airlines will launch direct flights between Phuket and Nanjing, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

On Friday, Sichuan Airlines direct service to Phuket will take off from Chengdu, flying every day. Phuket Airport is ready to welcome masses of international and domestic tourists, according to Airport Director Monchai Tanot. At present, Phuket Airport facilitates around 40,000 – 43,000 inbound and outbound passengers every day, said Monchai. Airport traffic is at about 80% of pre-pandemic levels when the airport saw around 52,000 passengers come and go each day, said the airport director.

Monchai said the revival of several services to Europe this High Season has helped the airport get busy again. Three more airlines including Hainan Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines have requested slots to commence direct services from China to Phuket.

If their slots are approved, a total of eight airlines will be operating direct routes between Phuket and mainland China. Passengers as well as cabin crew on the inaugural flights of each new service from China will be presented with gifts upon arrival at the airport, said Monchai.

China recently reopened its border for the first time in three years. Given that China was once Thailand’s top tourism market, Thailand is bracing itself for an influx of arrivals from China, spiking during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays. Online searches for flights to Thailand during Chinese New Year beat searches for flights to all other countries in the region, according to travel marketing company Sojern.

[Barfly]

China Airlines with direct flights from Chiang Mai to Taiwan

Taiwan-basedChina Airlines commenced nonstop flights between Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to Taiwan on Friday. A 180-seat Airbus A321neo will service the four-hour route four days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

• Flight CI851 from Taipeh Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) to Chiang Mai will take off at 08.05 am and touch down in Chiang Mai at 11.15 am.
• Flight CI852 departs from Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) at 12.15 pm and lands in Taipeh at 16.40 pm.

The route’s debut has been a long time coming since the state-owned flag carrier planned to launch the flights in June 2020 and then again in October 2021, but faced Covid-19 related delays. Other airlines servicing the route include AirAsia and Taiwanese airline EVA Air. The Chiang Mai – Taoyuan route boosts China Airlines’ total number of round-trip flights between Taiwan and Thailand to 27 per week. China Airlines operates 18 weekly flights on the Taipei-Bangkok route and five weekly flights on the Kaohsiung-Bangkok route. In a press release, the airline said it hopes the route boosts convenience for business and tourist travel between the two regions…

“The launch of the Chiang Mai route will not only benefit Taiwanese travellers heading to the city but China Airlines is also targeting the market for North American and European travellers transiting through Taiwan on the way to Thailand.”