AirAsia will operate direct flights to Bangkok from Visakhapatnam either from October or from November this year. The airline submitted a letter to Airport Director of Visakhapatnam International Airport requesting for time slots.
Tour and Travel Operators Association of Andhra (TTOA) has been following up continuously with the airline operator starting with the visit of High Commissioner of Thailand Pisan Manawat and his team and also the top decision makers of Thai Smile to Visakhapatnam on August 31, 2013, according to TTOA chairman O. Naresh Kumar and its president K. Vijay Mohan. In the absence of a direct flight, people from Vizag region are going to Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata to catch flights to Bangkok and other cities in Thailand.
The advantages of having direct flights from Vizag to Thailand over other nearest major cities is that the distance between these two destinations is only 1,905 km as against 2,400 km from Hyderabad to Bangkok and 2,254 km from Chennai to Bangkok. This will save a lot of time and money to the travellers from this region, according to the TTOA representatives. Pharmaceutical product manufacturers and other traders exporting their goods to Japan from Vizag can now route them through Bangkok, which is 268 km less than sending them through Hyderabad.