Phuket Gains New Direct Flights From Zurich, Kuwait and Minsk

Three airlines are opening new nonstop routes to Phuket this month, adding to the island’s winter 2026/27 flight network. Swiss carrier Edelweiss Air starts flying Zurich-Phuket on October 25 with three flights a week. Kuwait Airways follows on October 27 with a twice-weekly service from Kuwait, and Belarus’s Belavia begins twice-weekly flights from Minsk on October 29. All three are genuinely new links rather than restored older routes.

The additions come as Phuket’s overall visitor numbers have softened slightly: the island logged 9.2 million arrivals in the first eight months of 2026, down about 1.8% year-on-year, with foreign arrivals falling more than domestic ones. The new routes join other recently added or expanding services into Phuket, including Virgin Atlantic from London and AirAsia’s expanded domestic capacity, as airlines and the airport bet on filling seats through the December-to-March high season.

For travellers from Switzerland, Kuwait or Belarus, these are the first nonstop options to Phuket on these city pairs, worth checking against existing connecting itineraries for trips booked this winter.