Kuwait Airways has launched twice-weekly non-stop Kuwait-Phuket flights, adding 556 weekly inbound seats to Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said on October 27.
The service joins Kuwait Airways’ six weekly Bangkok flights, taking its Thailand total to eight a week. Weekly inbound seats from Kuwait rise 27.7% to 2,560. Kuwaiti visitors stay an average of 13.14 nights and 35.06% of them visit Phuket.
TAT said the route “supports our 2027 Rebalance Market Portfolio direction”. It said non-stop access “removes the need for connections through regional aviation hubs or Bangkok”.
The launch follows TAT’s message to Middle East travellers that Bangkok is open after September floods.
Flight KU407 uses a 278-seat Airbus A330-900neo. It leaves Kuwait at 03:30 on Tuesdays and 03:25 on Saturdays, arriving in Phuket at 14:55 and 14:50. The return KU408 departs Phuket at 16:15 and lands in Kuwait at 20:35.
Kuwait Airways plans up to four weekly flights between December 2 and February 3, subject to final scheduling and aircraft deployment.
Ratchadaporn Ngarmwiriya, TAT Deputy Executive Director for the Americas, Middle East and Africa Region, and Siriwan Seeharach, Director of the TAT Phuket Office, met the first flight.
Thailand received 48,049 Kuwaiti visitors between January 1 and October 20. Leisure accounted for 83.74% of trips and 35.91% travelled with family. Krabi drew 10.93% of Kuwaiti visitors.
TAT projects 55,300 Kuwaiti arrivals for the full year.
