CHIANG RAI, 30 October 2019: Chinese travel agents visiting Chiang Rai on a Tourism Authority of Thailand fam trip last week said China Eastern Airline is planning a new direct service from Nanjing to Chiang Rai.
A reliable source told TTR Weekly the agents claimed the service would start in mid-November and continue through the high season months to around March 2020.
Technically a scheduled service, bookings would be generated exclusively by travel agents in China with no local sales options for Chiang Rai residents to book tickets to Nanjing.
“Nanjing is the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, 300 km upstream on the Yangtze River from Shanghai. It was the national capital during part of the Ming dynasty. Many monuments and landmarks remain, including Zhonghua Gate (Gate of China), and a preserved 14th-century section of the massive wall that contained the old city’s southern entrance,” according to Wikipedia.
Located 29 km from the city, Nanjing’s Lukou International Airport handles around 20 million passengers annually and musters services to 85 domestic and international destinations. There are international flights from Nanjing to Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the US and Germany.
TTR Weekly emailed routine questions to the Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Chiang Rai, 26 October, requesting further comment on possible new air services linking the far north Thailand destination with China. However, at the time of posting this report, the TAT office had not responded.
Chiang Rai’s direct international air links with China increased substantially this year.
Thai Air Asia operates direct flights from Chiang Rai to Shenzhen and will introduce four weekly flights to Hangzhou 1 December. It pulled all of its direct flights from Chiang Rai to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Phuket ahead of the peak season claiming traffic and advance bookings could not sustain the services.
Travel agents told TTR Weekly the airline’s payment and refund policy was flawed and prevented it from tapping travel agency bookings to help establish new routes.
All of the direct flights from Chiang Rai, excluding Bangkok and Phuket, serve cities in China, and this trend is likely to continue as Chiang Mai airport 180 km southwest of Chiang Rai is now operating beyond maximum capacity.
Currently, Chiang Rai airport has direct flights to Kunming (China Eastern), Hong Kong ( Hong Kong Express), Jinghong, Yunnan province (Ruili Airlines), Changsha (Thai Lion Air), Chengdu ( Sichuan Airlines) Guangzhou (9 Air – Juneyao Airlines).
