Thai AirAsia will launch daily direct flights between Bangkok and Kochi, India, in May 17, allowing business travellers the chance to fly between the capital of Thailand and one of the most important port cities on India’s southwest coast.

The new service will be operated on an all-economy A320 aircraft. The outbound flight will depart Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok at 21:55 and arrive in Kochi at 00:45; while the return leg will leave Kochi at 01:30 and land in Bangkok at 06:55.

“We are ready to move forward in India this year as we can clearly see opportunities both in the travel sector and trade segment,” says CEO of Thai AirAsia Tassapon Bijleveld. “The AirAsia brand is already familiar to the people of India following the success of our Chennai and Bangalore routes, which both saw Load Factors of 84 percent in 2015. Opening a direct flight to Kochi is very enticing and we expect to achieve Load Factors over 85 percent within the first three months of the route’s operation as well as further growth in the future.”

Presently, Thai AirAsia flies Don Mueang to Chennai five times per week and the same frequency to Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. www.airasia.com