CHIANG MAI, 18 June 2019: AirAsia welcomed its inaugural flight from Shenzhen on Monday.
The airline serves the Chiang Mai – Shenzhen route four times weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) with an Airbus 320.
AirAsia station manager Chiang Mai, Suraphan Homkajorn and Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Chiang Mai Office deputy director, Sansern Seetisarn were on hand to greet the first Chinese travellers arriving on the new flight.
Shenzhen is a major city in Guangdong Province, China, part of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the northeast, and Dongguan to the northwest.
It has a registered population 12,905,000 (2017 count) although an unofficial count puts it much higher at around 20 million.
Shenzhen is one of China’s top destinations for IT and fashion shopping and could attract Chiang Mai residents but the main push is to sell the seats to Chinese tourist living in Shenzhen.
Applying for a Chinese tourist visa is definitely a drawback for Thai travellers who can visit equally sophisticated destinations in neighbouring ASEAN without needing a visa.
Japan is a far more popular destination for Thais due to visa-free status, the mix of modern and traditional attractions and Japan’s reputation for cleanliness and hygiene.
