Dopo Mosca (che partirà a Nov di quest'anno) in programma per il 2006/07 anche Berlino e Manchester in Europa + altre....

THAI adds Russia, South Africa

Thai Airways International is spreading its wings to five new destinations: Moscow, Johannesburg, Berlin, Sendai in Japan, and Manchester.

The scheduled flights to Moscow and Johannesburg are set to start in November and December respectively, while flights to the three other cities are expected to begin between 2006 and 2007.

The national carrier is also looking at serving Hiroshima, in Japan as well as pondering a new route to Tibet, according to Vasing Kittikul, executive vice-president for customer services.

THAI will offer three direct flights a week from Bangkok to Moscow's Domodedovo airport, using Airbus A340-600 aircraft. The same frequency will be also applied for the Bangkok-Johannesburg route.

The services are the first for THAI to Russia and South Africa, potentially lucrative routes from Asia.

Three or four flights a week are planned for the service to Manchester, the airline's second serving city in the UK, in 2007, while it plans to start flying to Sendai three times a week sometime next year.

THAI is in talks with All Nippon Airlines about launching a code-sharing operation to Hiroshima, possibly towards the end of next year.

Bangkok Airways, the privately owned carrier, plans a Bangkok-Hiroshima flight in December this year at the frequency of three flights a week using A320 jetliners that can carry 162 passengers with a maximum range of 3,600 km. It will be the first airline to ply the route.

THAI, meanwhile, is working out the timing for a service to Berlin, which would be its third German destination after Frankfurt and Munich.

The national carrier now flies to 59 cities in 33 countries on four continents: Asia (41 cities), Europe (11), Australia (5) and North America (2). In Thailand, it serves 13 destinations.

Mr Vasing said the the introduction of new destinations, timing and frequencies would be in line with the airline's fleet expansion and delivery schedules.

- Bangkok Post -