Four New International Airlines Add Thailand Routes for the Winter Season

Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority allocated winter 2026/27 slots to four airlines new to the country following June’s IATA slot conference in Bangkok, adding nonstop links that did not exist before this season. Riyadh Air began flying Riyadh–Suvarnabhumi on September 3 with three flights a week, rising to seven weekly flights from October; it is a Boeing 787-9 service and the airline’s first Southeast Asian destination on sale. Virgin Atlantic is scheduled to start three weekly flights between London Heathrow and Phuket from October 25. Malaysia’s AirBorneo has taken up 14 weekly flights between Kuching and Suvarnabhumi, and Moldova’s SkyUp Nistru is adding a Chisinau–Sharjah–Phuket charter, also from late October. For travellers from Saudi Arabia, the UK or Malaysia, these add direct options to Bangkok or Phuket that were not available last winter, on top of the wider seasonal recovery in Thai Airways’ and AirAsia’s own networks.