MEDIA RELEASE

July 2016

Thai Smiles announces new Bangkok-Cebu-Bangkok direct air service

Thai Smile Airways has announced it will fly direct to Cebu, Philippines starting
October 2016.
The said airline will fly to Cebu on a daily basis with three times weekly in the
morning and four times weekly in the afternoon using an Airbus 320 with 162 dual class
seats (12 business class and 150 economy class).
Thai Smile Airways is the regional airline and wholly owned subsidiary of Thai
Airways. Based in Thailand, it began operations in July 2012. The daily BangkokCebu-Bangkok route is in addition to Thai Smiles five international routes and twelve
domestic routes in Thailand.
Mr. Wutcharin Thatan, Thai Smiles executive, said the airline expects a good
amount of traffic from both ends considering that Bangkok is one of the popular
destinations for Filipino business and leisure travellers. Likewise, Thailand is located
strategically between the Philippines and Europe, the Middle East, and India, where
visitor traffic to the country is registering double digit growth annually.
Mr. Thatan also explained that the non-stop service between Cebu and Bangkok
will be faster and more convenient for travellers from the Central and Southern
Philippines than the current option which is to fly from Cebu to Manila onward to
Bangkok, saving up to one and half hours of domestic flight and a few thousand pesos
for local fares.
The airline executive, together with the Market Development Group of the
Department of Tourism (DOT), recently visited Manila, Cebu, Bohol, and Clark to gather
information and to meet airport officials in preparation for the coming flights. Mr. Erwin
Balane, Head of the DOTs Route Development Team, said that the new route will

DOT Media Release July 2016

Page

provide an additional 58,968 international air seats per year to Cebu. This will provide
expanded opportunity for the country to generate foreign exchange and employment.
The new route is an offshoot of the Philippines hosting of Routes Asia 2016 held
at the SMX Convention Center last March 2016 in Manila. The event was considered
as the biggest aviation event in Asia where airlines, airports, and tourism authorities
met to discuss possible aviation opportunities.
DOT Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon, Jr. said the new route complements the
agency thrust to intensify promotion of direct flights to other international gateways such
as Cebu by stimulating air traffic demand in opportunity markets.
Thai Smiles currently has 15 units of the Airbus 320 which are intended to serve
the market gap between low-cost carriers and full service airlines.
###

CONTACT:

Erwin F. Balane
Routes Development Head
efbalane@tourism.gov.ph

DOT Media Release July 2016

Page