LEAD NEWS : THAI AIRWAYS INTRODUCES WIDE BODIED AIRCRAFT FOR DURGA PUJA FESTIVAL BETWEEN KOLKATA AND BANGKOK FROM 26 SEPTEMBER2025 , ALL SEATS ALMOST SOLD ON FIRST DAY

(  Boeing 787-800 flights to operate from 26 September 2025 to 6 October 2025 for the festive season)

BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY

KOLKATA | 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

Thai Airways, the national carrier of Thailand will introduce wide bodied aircraft from 26 September 2025 in wake of the upcoming Durga Puja Festival between Bangkok and Kolkata, which is expected to further boost the tourism sector. Almost all tickets of the first wide bodied aircraft flight have been sold on day one.

Smt. Siriporn Tantipanyathep, Consul General of Royal Consulate General of Thailand in Kolkata has welcomed the move and said that this step will further boost the connectivity between the two nations during this mega festive season.

India is truly special to Thailand as it is the third largest  sourcemarket of tourism in the country .“ Last  year Thailand welcomed morethan 2.1 million visitors from India and in the first six months ofthis year we have already seen more than 1.18 million Indians visiting
Thailand.  This reflects the deep bond of friendship between Thailandand India,” she added.

Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Kolkata and has already bagged the Unesco World Cultural Heritage tag and since the past few years several hundreds of foreign tourists visit the state to witness the Durga Puja and the Carnival.

Thai Airways sources   told The Travel and Tourism Times that already on day one ( 26 October), the business class seats are fully sold and 99 percent of the Economy Class seats are sold.

The wide bodied aircraft will operate from 26 September 2025 to 6 October 2025, Thai Airways has confirmed. At present Thai Airways is operating with narrow bodied  A320  with 12 Business Class and 144 Economy Class seats,

From tomorrow, Thai Airways will operate Boeing 787-800  aircrafts  with Royal Silk Class  andwith 233 Economy Class Seats and 22 Business Class seats between CCU- BKK- CCU.

Thai Airways is currently operating flights from New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai and Bengaluru. While Delhi – Bangkok are three flights daily, Mumbai- Bangkok are two flights daily while other destinations have one daily flights.  However Mumbai and New Delhi also have additional flights but not daily.

HIGHLIGHTS OF The BOEING 787-800 from CCU- BKK:

*Fully Flat Bed seats in Business Class

*Spacious seats in Economy Class.

ThisOctober, Thailand will also host the “Amazing Thailand Grand DiwaliFestival 2025” in the heart of Bangkok, a dazzling celebration oflight, friendship, and cultural harmony that reflects the deep bondsshared between  the two nations. Kolkata is also one of the biggest source market for leisure, MICE, Wedding  tourism in Thailand.

Incidentally, about 64 years ago, Thai Airways started its  first  commercial   flight operations  to India, from Kolkata to Bangkok. Skal International Kolkata, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) , Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) and other reputed travel agents associations have also welcomed the new move of Thai Airways.